fix(skillopt): emit proposed.md in no-mutate mode (#2635)

writeProposed now writes both best.md (optimizer's current-best pointer)
and proposed.md (the stable review artifact documented by --no-mutate);
the orchestrator returns the real proposed.md path instead of aliasing
best.md. Fix lands in the shared helper so both accept-branch call sites
are covered.

Takeover of #2719.

Co-authored-by: RerankerGuo <RerankerGuo@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/tutorials/improving-skills-with-skillopt.md

@@ -233,13 +233,14 @@ keep it or `git checkout` to throw it away. Nothing is committed for you.
 
 **For a skill that ships with gbrain** (anything under the gbrain repo's own
 `skills/`): SkillOpt refuses to overwrite it by default and writes the winner to
-`skills/<name>/skillopt/best.md` instead, so an optimization pass can never
-silently mutate a skill other people depend on. Two ways to handle that:
+`skills/<name>/skillopt/proposed.md` instead (while keeping `best.md` as the
+optimizer's current-best pointer), so an optimization pass can never silently
+mutate a skill other people depend on. Two ways to handle that:
 
 ```bash
 # See the proposed improvement without touching SKILL.md (works for ANY skill):
 gbrain skillopt meeting-prep --split 1:1:1 --no-mutate
-# → writes skills/meeting-prep/skillopt/best.md (the proposed rewrite), prints its path. Copy what you want.
+# → writes skills/meeting-prep/skillopt/proposed.md, updates best.md, and prints the proposal path.
 
 # Actually rewrite a bundled skill (explicit opt-in + an independent held-out set):
 gbrain skillopt brain-ops --split 1:1:1 --allow-mutate-bundled \

src/commands/extract.ts

@@ -433,10 +433,7 @@ export async function extractLinksFromFile(
       async resolve(name: string, dirHint?: string | string[]): Promise<string | null> {
         if (!name) return null;
         const trimmed = name.trim();
-        // Same broadened slug-shape as makeResolver step 1: accepts
-        // digit-leading folders (`90-people/nicolai`) and nested paths.
-        // Exact Set membership guards it — no false positives.
-        if (/\//.test(trimmed) && /^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9/_-]*$/.test(trimmed) && allSlugs.has(trimmed)) {
+        if (/^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*\/[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*$/.test(trimmed) && allSlugs.has(trimmed)) {
           return trimmed;
         }
         const hints = Array.isArray(dirHint) ? dirHint : (dirHint ? [dirHint] : []);
@@ -585,17 +582,6 @@ export interface ExtractOpts {
    * before (single-'default'-source brains unaffected).
    */
   sourceId?: string;
-  /**
-   * v0.42 — also extract frontmatter links on the incremental (slugs) path.
-   * `extractForSlugs` extracts BODY links only by default; set this true to also
-   * parse each changed page's frontmatter so `sources:`/`related:` edges stay fresh
-   * when YAML is edited externally and synced in. Applied PER changed page, so the
-   * incremental walk stays bounded (no switch to a full DB scan). Only honored on
-   * the incremental path (`slugs` defined); the full-walk path already covers
-   * frontmatter via its own dispatch. Gated upstream by the config key
-   * `autopilot.incremental_extract_include_frontmatter` (default off).
-   */
-  includeFrontmatter?: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -634,7 +620,7 @@ export async function runExtractCore(engine: BrainEngine, opts: ExtractOpts): Pr
       // Nothing changed — skip entirely.
       return result;
     }
-    const r = await extractForSlugs(engine, opts.dir, opts.slugs, opts.mode, dryRun, jsonMode, workers, opts.signal, opts.sourceId, opts.includeFrontmatter);
+    const r = await extractForSlugs(engine, opts.dir, opts.slugs, opts.mode, dryRun, jsonMode, workers, opts.signal, opts.sourceId);
     result.links_created = r.links_created;
     result.timeline_entries_created = r.timeline_created;
     result.pages_processed = r.pages;
@@ -1025,11 +1011,6 @@ async function extractForSlugs(
   signal?: AbortSignal,
   // #1747/#1503: stamp resolved brain source id on batch rows (see ExtractOpts.sourceId).
   sourceId?: string,
-  // v0.42: when true, also extract frontmatter links per changed page so
-  // externally-edited YAML (`sources:`/`related:`) stays fresh on the cycle.
-  // Default false preserves the body-only incremental behavior. Gated upstream
-  // by `autopilot.incremental_extract_include_frontmatter`.
-  includeFrontmatter: boolean = false,
 ): Promise<{ links_created: number; timeline_created: number; pages: number }> {
   // Build the full slug set for link resolution (fast: just readdir, no file reads)
   const allFiles = walkMarkdownFiles(brainDir);
@@ -1104,7 +1085,7 @@ async function extractForSlugs(
         const content = readFileSync(fullPath, 'utf-8');
 
         if (doLinks) {
-          const links = await extractLinksFromFile(content, relPath, allSlugs, { globalBasename, includeFrontmatter });
+          const links = await extractLinksFromFile(content, relPath, allSlugs, { globalBasename });
           for (const link of links) {
             if (dryRun) {
               if (!jsonMode) console.log(`  ${link.from_slug} → ${link.to_slug} (${link.link_type})`);

src/core/config.ts

@@ -121,18 +121,6 @@ export interface GBrainConfig {
       /** Daily spend cap (USD); bounds drains/day = floor(cap / ~$0.30). Default 2.0. */
       max_usd_per_day?: number;
     };
-    /**
-     * v0.42 — keep frontmatter links fresh on the incremental cycle. The cycle's
-     * extract phase re-extracts only the slugs a sync changed, but `extractForSlugs`
-     * extracts BODY links only — frontmatter (`sources:`/`related:` etc.) link edges
-     * silently drift stale when a page's YAML is edited externally and synced in.
-     * Set true to also extract frontmatter links per changed page each cycle, keeping
-     * externally-edited YAML edges fresh without a full rescan. Default false
-     * (preserves current behavior). Read via the file/env/DB plane in the cycle's
-     * extract dispatch. Disable/enable with
-     * `gbrain config set autopilot.incremental_extract_include_frontmatter <bool>`.
-     */
-    incremental_extract_include_frontmatter?: boolean;
   };
   eval?: {
     /** false disables capture entirely. Defaults to true. */

src/core/cycle.ts

@@ -996,21 +996,6 @@ async function runPhaseExtract(
 ): Promise<PhaseResult> {
   try {
     const { runExtractCore } = await import('../commands/extract.ts');
-    const { loadConfig } = await import('./config.ts');
-    // Default off: the incremental cycle extracts body links only unless the
-    // operator opts in to keeping externally-edited frontmatter links fresh too.
-    // Both planes, file wins (env > file > DB precedence, per loadConfigWithEngine):
-    // `gbrain config set autopilot.incremental_extract_include_frontmatter true`
-    // writes the DB plane (engine.setConfig), so a file-plane-only read here
-    // would make the documented enable command a silent no-op (#2120 class).
-    const fileVal = loadConfig()?.autopilot?.incremental_extract_include_frontmatter;
-    let includeFrontmatter = fileVal === true;
-    if (fileVal === undefined) {
-      try {
-        includeFrontmatter =
-          (await engine.getConfig('autopilot.incremental_extract_include_frontmatter')) === 'true';
-      } catch { /* config table unreadable → default off */ }
-    }
     // Extract is read-mostly against the filesystem + write to links table.
     // Honor dryRun by skipping with a 'skipped' entry: extract doesn't have
     // a clean dry-run mode today and runCycle should be honest about it.
@@ -1031,7 +1016,6 @@ async function runPhaseExtract(
       slugs: changedSlugs,  // undefined = full walk (first run / manual)
       signal,
       sourceId,
-      includeFrontmatter,  // honored on the incremental (slugs) path only
     });
     const linksCreated = result?.links_created ?? 0;
     const timelineCreated = result?.timeline_entries_created ?? 0;

src/core/link-extraction.ts

@@ -942,17 +942,8 @@ export function makeResolver(
 
       const hints = Array.isArray(dirHint) ? dirHint : (dirHint ? [dirHint] : []);
 
-      // Step 1: already a slug? Try an exact page lookup for any slug-shaped
-      // value (contains '/', slug charset). Broadened beyond the original
-      // single-segment lowercase-leading form (`^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*\/[a-z0-9]...`)
-      // to also accept digit-leading folders (`90-people/nicolai`,
-      // `01-trading/...`) and nested paths (`a/b/c`) — common in PARA-numbered
-      // vaults. This is an EXACT getPage match only — no fuzzy — so it never
-      // produces a false positive; a non-existent slug just falls through to
-      // the steps below. Fixes frontmatter `related: [[dir/slug]]` values
-      // (unwrapped by unwrapWikilink) that name a real page the strict regex
-      // could not reach and whose full-path fuzzy score is below threshold.
-      if (/\//.test(trimmed) && /^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9/_-]*$/.test(trimmed)) {
+      // Step 1: already a slug? (dir/name shape, lowercase, hyphenated)
+      if (/^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*\/[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*$/.test(trimmed)) {
         const page = await engine.getPage(trimmed);
         if (page) {
           cache.set(cacheKey, trimmed);
@@ -1012,25 +1003,6 @@ export function makeResolver(
 
 // ─── Frontmatter extractor ──────────────────────────────────────
 
-/**
- * Unwrap an Obsidian `[[wikilink]]` frontmatter value to its bare link
- * target so the resolver (which expects bare titles / dir slugs) can match
- * it. Mainstream Obsidian authors frontmatter links as `related: ["[[Page]]"]`;
- * without this, the resolver treats the brackets as part of the value and a
- * `[[90-people/nicolai]]` is normalized into `90peoplenicolai`, so it never
- * resolves. Strips a trailing `|alias`, `#heading`, or `^block` suffix — the
- * link target only. The regex is anchored to a wholly-wrapped value
- * (`^\s*\[\[…\]\]\s*$`), so bare titles and any value not fully wrapped pass
- * through unchanged and existing behavior is preserved exactly.
- */
-export function unwrapWikilink(value: string): string {
-  const match = /^\s*\[\[(.+?)\]\]\s*$/.exec(value);
-  if (!match) return value;
-  // Take the link target: drop |alias, then #heading / ^block suffixes.
-  const target = match[1].split('|')[0].split('#')[0].split('^')[0];
-  return target.trim();
-}
-
 export interface UnresolvedFrontmatterRef {
   /** The frontmatter field name. */
   field: string;
@@ -1088,12 +1060,7 @@ export async function extractFrontmatterLinks(
         }
         if (!name) continue;   // skip numbers, nulls, malformed objects
 
-        // Accept Obsidian `[[wikilink]]` values in frontmatter link fields by
-        // unwrapping to the bare target before resolution. Bare titles pass
-        // through unchanged; the original `name` is preserved for the
-        // unresolved report and edge context.
-        const linkTarget = unwrapWikilink(name);
-        const resolved = await resolver.resolve(linkTarget, mapping.dirHint);
+        const resolved = await resolver.resolve(name, mapping.dirHint);
         if (!resolved) {
           unresolved.push({ field, name });
           continue;

src/core/skillopt/orchestrator.ts

@@ -93,7 +93,13 @@ import { resolveLrSchedule } from './lr-schedule.ts';
 import { preflight, formatPreflightReport } from './preflight.ts';
 import { isRejected, loadRejectedBuffer, makeRejectedEntry, saveRejectedBuffer } from './rejected-buffer.ts';
 import { runReflect, runOneShotRewrite, describeJudges } from './reflect.ts';
-import { acceptCandidate, bestPath, revertAllPending, skillPath, writeProposed } from './version-store.ts';
+import {
+  acceptCandidate,
+  proposedPath as proposedFilePath,
+  revertAllPending,
+  skillPath,
+  writeProposed,
+} from './version-store.ts';
 import { runValidationGate, scoreSkillOnTasks } from './validate-gate.ts';
 import { ROLLOUT_SUCCESS_THRESHOLD } from './types.ts';
 import type { SkillOptOpts, EditOp, RunReceipt, BenchmarkTask } from './types.ts';
@@ -702,9 +708,9 @@ async function runOptimizationLoop(
   // to the catch's assignment values only (it can't prove the async callback ran).
   const finalOutcome = outcome as 'accepted' | 'no_improvement' | 'aborted' | 'errored';
   if (!mutateDecision.mutate && finalOutcome === 'accepted') {
-    // best.md was written by writeProposed() in the accept branch (no-mutate
-    // path); it doubles as proposed.md for human review. SKILL.md untouched.
-    proposedPath = bestPath(skillsDir, skillName);
+    // writeProposed() emitted both the best pointer and the stable review
+    // artifact in the accept branch. SKILL.md remains untouched.
+    proposedPath = proposedFilePath(skillsDir, skillName);
   } else if (mutateDecision.mutate) {
     mutatedSkillFile = finalOutcome === 'accepted';
   }

src/core/skillopt/version-store.ts

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
  *
  *   history.json
  *   best.md
+ *   proposed.md
  *   versions/
  *     v0001_e1_s1.md
  *     v0002_e1_s2.md
@@ -52,6 +53,10 @@ export function bestPath(skillsDir: string, skillName: string): string {
   return path.join(skilloptDir(skillsDir, skillName), 'best.md');
 }
 
+export function proposedPath(skillsDir: string, skillName: string): string {
+  return path.join(skilloptDir(skillsDir, skillName), 'proposed.md');
+}
+
 export function skillPath(skillsDir: string, skillName: string): string {
   return path.join(skillsDir, skillName, 'SKILL.md');
 }
@@ -171,17 +176,18 @@ export function acceptCandidate(input: AcceptInput): AcceptResult {
 }
 
 /**
- * Write the candidate to `best.md` (which doubles as `proposed.md`) WITHOUT
- * touching SKILL.md or the history ledger. Used by the `--no-mutate` /
- * bundled-without-allow paths: the optimizer found a better candidate but the
- * caller opted out of in-place mutation, so we surface it for human review.
- * Returns the path written. Atomic (.tmp + rename).
+ * Write the candidate to both `best.md` and `proposed.md` WITHOUT touching
+ * SKILL.md or the history ledger. `best.md` remains the optimizer's current
+ * best pointer; `proposed.md` is the stable human-review artifact promised by
+ * `--no-mutate`. Returns the proposal path. Each write is atomic (.tmp + rename).
  */
 export function writeProposed(skillsDir: string, skillName: string, candidateText: string): string {
-  const p = bestPath(skillsDir, skillName);
-  fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(p), { recursive: true });
-  atomicWrite(p, candidateText);
-  return p;
+  const best = bestPath(skillsDir, skillName);
+  const proposed = proposedPath(skillsDir, skillName);
+  fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(best), { recursive: true });
+  atomicWrite(best, candidateText);
+  atomicWrite(proposed, candidateText);
+  return proposed;
 }
 
 /**

test/e2e/skillopt-loop.serial.test.ts

@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import { runSkillOpt } from '../../src/core/skillopt/orchestrator.ts';
 import {
   bestPath,
   loadHistory,
+  proposedPath,
   skillPath,
 } from '../../src/core/skillopt/version-store.ts';
 import { loadRejectedBuffer } from '../../src/core/skillopt/rejected-buffer.ts';
@@ -741,7 +742,7 @@ describe('skillopt T3 — F11 held-out gate, ablation opts, no-DB-pollution', ()
     } finally { fixture.cleanup(); }
   });
 
-  test('--no-mutate writes proposed.md (best.md), leaves SKILL.md untouched', async () => {
+  test('--no-mutate writes proposed.md and best.md, leaves SKILL.md untouched', async () => {
     const fixture = setupFixture(SKILL_PEOPLE_ONLY, CITATIONS_BENCHMARK);
     try {
       installStub({
@@ -753,10 +754,9 @@ describe('skillopt T3 — F11 held-out gate, ablation opts, no-DB-pollution', ()
           const result = await runOnce(fixture, { noMutate: true });
           expect(result.outcome).toBe('accepted');
           expect(result.mutatedSkillFile).toBe(false);
-          expect(result.proposedPath).toBeDefined();
-          // proposed.md (best.md) exists and carries the improvement.
-          expect(fs.existsSync(result.proposedPath!)).toBe(true);
+          expect(result.proposedPath).toBe(proposedPath(fixture.skillsDir, SKILL));
           expect(fs.readFileSync(result.proposedPath!, 'utf8')).toContain('## Citations');
+          expect(fs.readFileSync(bestPath(fixture.skillsDir, SKILL), 'utf8')).toContain('## Citations');
           // SKILL.md on disk is UNCHANGED (still People-only).
           const skill = fs.readFileSync(skillPath(fixture.skillsDir, SKILL), 'utf8');
           expect(skill).not.toContain('## Citations');

test/extract-incremental.test.ts

@@ -191,37 +191,3 @@ describe('runExtractCore — incremental cycle path (#417)', () => {
     expect(result.links_created).toBeGreaterThan(0);
   });
 });
-describe('runExtractCore — incremental frontmatter gate (includeFrontmatter)', () => {
-  // alice has a `source:` frontmatter edge but NO body links. The incremental
-  // path extracts body links only by default, so the frontmatter edge is the
-  // sole signal that distinguishes the gate off vs on.
-  const aliceFm = '---\nsource: companies/acme-example\n---\n# alice';
-
-  test('9. default (flag omitted) does NOT extract frontmatter links on the incremental path', async () => {
-    await seedPage('companies/acme-example', '# acme');
-    await seedPage('people/alice-example', aliceFm);
-    const result = await runExtractCore(engine as unknown as BrainEngine, {
-      mode: 'all',
-      dir: tempDir,
-      slugs: ['people/alice-example'],
-    });
-    // alice's only potential edge is her frontmatter `source:`; with the gate off
-    // it must not be extracted (preserves the body-only incremental behavior).
-    expect(result.pages_processed).toBe(1);
-    expect(result.links_created).toBe(0);
-  });
-
-  test('10. includeFrontmatter: true extracts the frontmatter link on the incremental path', async () => {
-    await seedPage('companies/acme-example', '# acme');
-    await seedPage('people/alice-example', aliceFm);
-    const result = await runExtractCore(engine as unknown as BrainEngine, {
-      mode: 'all',
-      dir: tempDir,
-      slugs: ['people/alice-example'],
-      includeFrontmatter: true,
-    });
-    // Same page, gate on → the `source:` frontmatter edge is now extracted.
-    expect(result.pages_processed).toBe(1);
-    expect(result.links_created).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-  });
-});

test/extract.test.ts

@@ -76,18 +76,6 @@ describe('extractLinksFromFile', () => {
     }
   });
 
-  it('resolves wrapped [[wikilink]] digit-leading slug-path in frontmatter (fs resolver, broadened step 1)', async () => {
-    // Same bug class as makeResolver step 1 (#1983): the fs resolver's strict
-    // `^[a-z]…` slug regex rejected digit-leading / nested paths, so a PARA-vault
-    // `related: "[[90-people/nicolai]]"` never resolved even though the page exists.
-    const content = '---\nrelated: "[[90-people/nicolai]]"\ntype: concept\n---\nContent.';
-    const allSlugs = new Set(['wiki/note', '90-people/nicolai']);
-    const links = await extractLinksFromFile(content, 'wiki/note.md', allSlugs, { includeFrontmatter: true });
-    const related = links.filter(l => l.link_type === 'related_to');
-    expect(related).toHaveLength(1);
-    expect(related[0].to_slug).toBe('90-people/nicolai');
-  });
-
   it('frontmatter extraction is default OFF (back-compat)', async () => {
     // Without includeFrontmatter, fs-source no longer auto-extracts frontmatter.
     // Matches db-source behavior. User opts in with --include-frontmatter flag.

test/link-extraction.test.ts

@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import {
   parseTimelineEntries,
   isAutoLinkEnabled,
   FRONTMATTER_LINK_MAP,
-  unwrapWikilink,
   type SlugResolver,
 } from '../src/core/link-extraction.ts';
 import type { BrainEngine } from '../src/core/engine.ts';
@@ -1292,175 +1291,3 @@ describe('parseTimelineEntries — Format 3: inline [Source: ..., YYYY-MM-DD] ci
     expect(parseTimelineEntries('[Source: import batch, 2025-07-01]')).toHaveLength(0);
   });
 });
-// ─── Frontmatter [[wikilink]] + slug-path resolution ──────────────────────
-// Mainstream Obsidian authors frontmatter links as `related: ["[[Page]]"]`,
-// and PARA-numbered vaults use digit-leading / nested slug paths like
-// `[[90-people/nicolai]]`. Both were silently dropped: brackets were treated
-// as part of the value and the step-1 slug regex (`^[a-z]…`) rejected
-// digit-leading / nested paths, while full-path fuzzy scored below threshold.
-// Fix: unwrapWikilink() before resolution + an exact getPage() for any
-// slug-shaped value (exact-match only → no false positives).
-
-describe('unwrapWikilink', () => {
-  test('wrapped title → bare title', () => {
-    expect(unwrapWikilink('[[Monday Range]]')).toBe('Monday Range');
-  });
-  test('wrapped slug-path (digit-leading folder) → bare slug', () => {
-    expect(unwrapWikilink('[[90-people/nicolai]]')).toBe('90-people/nicolai');
-  });
-  test('wrapped nested slug-path → bare slug', () => {
-    expect(unwrapWikilink('[[01-trading/wiki/strategies/opening-range-breakout]]'))
-      .toBe('01-trading/wiki/strategies/opening-range-breakout');
-  });
-  test('strips |alias', () => {
-    expect(unwrapWikilink('[[90-people/nicolai|Nicolai]]')).toBe('90-people/nicolai');
-  });
-  test('strips #heading', () => {
-    expect(unwrapWikilink('[[Page#Section]]')).toBe('Page');
-  });
-  test('strips ^block', () => {
-    expect(unwrapWikilink('[[Page^abc123]]')).toBe('Page');
-  });
-  test('surrounding whitespace tolerated', () => {
-    expect(unwrapWikilink('  [[Page]]  ')).toBe('Page');
-  });
-  test('bare title passes through unchanged', () => {
-    expect(unwrapWikilink('Monday Range')).toBe('Monday Range');
-  });
-  test('bare slug passes through unchanged', () => {
-    expect(unwrapWikilink('90-people/nicolai')).toBe('90-people/nicolai');
-  });
-  test('partially-wrapped value is NOT unwrapped (anchored)', () => {
-    // Not a wholly-wrapped value → left intact so existing behavior is exact.
-    expect(unwrapWikilink('see [[Page]] for detail')).toBe('see [[Page]] for detail');
-  });
-});
-
-describe('makeResolver — slug-path exact getPage (step 1 broadened)', () => {
-  function fakeEngine(
-    slugs: string[],
-    fuzzyMap: Map<string, { slug: string; similarity: number }> = new Map(),
-  ): BrainEngine {
-    const lookup = new Set(slugs);
-    return {
-      async getPage(slug: string) { return lookup.has(slug) ? { slug } as any : null; },
-      async findByTitleFuzzy(name: string) { return fuzzyMap.get(name) ?? null; },
-      async searchKeyword() { return []; },
-    } as unknown as BrainEngine;
-  }
-
-  test('digit-leading folder slug resolves via exact getPage', async () => {
-    const r = makeResolver(fakeEngine(['90-people/nicolai']));
-    expect(await r.resolve('90-people/nicolai')).toBe('90-people/nicolai');
-  });
-
-  test('nested (>2 segment) slug resolves via exact getPage', async () => {
-    const r = makeResolver(fakeEngine(['01-trading/wiki/strategies/opening-range-breakout']));
-    expect(await r.resolve('01-trading/wiki/strategies/opening-range-breakout'))
-      .toBe('01-trading/wiki/strategies/opening-range-breakout');
-  });
-
-  test('regression: single-segment lowercase slug still resolves', async () => {
-    const r = makeResolver(fakeEngine(['people/pedro']));
-    expect(await r.resolve('people/pedro')).toBe('people/pedro');
-  });
-
-  test('exact-only: slug-shaped value with no matching page falls through (no false positive)', async () => {
-    // `90-people/ghost` is slug-shaped but absent → step-1 getPage misses,
-    // no fuzzy hit → null. Never invents an edge.
-    const r = makeResolver(fakeEngine(['90-people/nicolai']));
-    expect(await r.resolve('90-people/ghost')).toBeNull();
-  });
-
-  test('non-slug value still routes to fuzzy', async () => {
-    const r = makeResolver(fakeEngine(
-      ['01-trading/monday-range'],
-      new Map([['Monday Range', { slug: '01-trading/monday-range', similarity: 1 }]]),
-    ));
-    expect(await r.resolve('Monday Range')).toBe('01-trading/monday-range');
-  });
-});
-
-describe('extractFrontmatterLinks — [[wikilink]] related: values (end-to-end)', () => {
-  function fakeEngine(
-    slugs: string[],
-    fuzzyMap: Map<string, { slug: string; similarity: number }> = new Map(),
-  ): BrainEngine {
-    const lookup = new Set(slugs);
-    return {
-      async getPage(slug: string) { return lookup.has(slug) ? { slug } as any : null; },
-      async findByTitleFuzzy(name: string) { return fuzzyMap.get(name) ?? null; },
-      async searchKeyword() { return []; },
-    } as unknown as BrainEngine;
-  }
-
-  test('wrapped slug-path related: resolves (the core win)', async () => {
-    const resolver = makeResolver(fakeEngine(['90-people/nicolai']));
-    const { candidates, unresolved } = await extractFrontmatterLinks(
-      'wiki/originals/ideas/note', 'note' as never,
-      { related: '[[90-people/nicolai]]' }, resolver,
-    );
-    expect(unresolved).toHaveLength(0);
-    expect(candidates).toHaveLength(1);
-    expect(candidates[0]).toMatchObject({
-      fromSlug: 'wiki/originals/ideas/note',
-      targetSlug: '90-people/nicolai',
-      linkType: 'related_to',
-      linkSource: 'frontmatter',
-    });
-  });
-
-  test('wrapped nested slug-path related: resolves', async () => {
-    const resolver = makeResolver(fakeEngine(['01-trading/wiki/strategies/opening-range-breakout']));
-    const { candidates } = await extractFrontmatterLinks(
-      'wiki/note', 'note' as never,
-      { related: ['[[01-trading/wiki/strategies/opening-range-breakout]]'] }, resolver,
-    );
-    expect(candidates).toHaveLength(1);
-    expect(candidates[0].targetSlug).toBe('01-trading/wiki/strategies/opening-range-breakout');
-  });
-
-  test('wrapped value with |alias resolves to the target', async () => {
-    const resolver = makeResolver(fakeEngine(['90-people/nicolai']));
-    const { candidates } = await extractFrontmatterLinks(
-      'wiki/note', 'note' as never,
-      { related: '[[90-people/nicolai|Nicolai]]' }, resolver,
-    );
-    expect(candidates).toHaveLength(1);
-    expect(candidates[0].targetSlug).toBe('90-people/nicolai');
-  });
-
-  test('regression: bare slug related: still resolves', async () => {
-    const resolver = makeResolver(fakeEngine(['90-people/nicolai']));
-    const { candidates } = await extractFrontmatterLinks(
-      'wiki/note', 'note' as never,
-      { related: '90-people/nicolai' }, resolver,
-    );
-    expect(candidates).toHaveLength(1);
-    expect(candidates[0].targetSlug).toBe('90-people/nicolai');
-  });
-
-  test('regression: wrapped title resolves via fuzzy (brackets harmless)', async () => {
-    const resolver = makeResolver(fakeEngine(
-      ['01-trading/monday-range'],
-      new Map([['Monday Range', { slug: '01-trading/monday-range', similarity: 1 }]]),
-    ));
-    const { candidates } = await extractFrontmatterLinks(
-      'wiki/note', 'note' as never,
-      { related: '[[Monday Range]]' }, resolver,
-    );
-    expect(candidates).toHaveLength(1);
-    expect(candidates[0].targetSlug).toBe('01-trading/monday-range');
-  });
-
-  test('unknown wrapped slug → unresolved (no crash), original value preserved', async () => {
-    const resolver = makeResolver(fakeEngine(['90-people/nicolai']));
-    const { candidates, unresolved } = await extractFrontmatterLinks(
-      'wiki/note', 'note' as never,
-      { related: '[[99-archive/does-not-exist]]' }, resolver,
-    );
-    expect(candidates).toHaveLength(0);
-    expect(unresolved).toHaveLength(1);
-    expect(unresolved[0]).toEqual({ field: 'related', name: '[[99-archive/does-not-exist]]' });
-  });
-});

test/skillopt/version-store.test.ts

@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ import {
   bestPath,
   historyPath,
   loadHistory,
+  proposedPath,
   revertAllPending,
   skillPath,
   versionsDir,
+  writeProposed,
 } from '../../src/core/skillopt/version-store.ts';
 
 let tmpDir: string;
@@ -79,6 +81,19 @@ describe('acceptCandidate (D8 two-phase commit)', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('writeProposed', () => {
+  test('writes distinct best and proposed artifacts without mutating SKILL.md (#2635)', () => {
+    const candidate = '---\nname: test\n---\nproposed body\n';
+
+    const written = writeProposed(tmpDir, SKILL, candidate);
+
+    expect(written).toBe(proposedPath(tmpDir, SKILL));
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(bestPath(tmpDir, SKILL), 'utf8')).toBe(candidate);
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(proposedPath(tmpDir, SKILL), 'utf8')).toBe(candidate);
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(skillPath(tmpDir, SKILL), 'utf8')).toContain('baseline body');
+  });
+});
+
 describe('revertAllPending (D8 crash recovery)', () => {
   test('no-op when no pending rows', () => {
     const reverted = revertAllPending(tmpDir, SKILL);