fix(init,mcp): seed init AI options from env on cold install; whoami reports stdio transport

Two backlog fixes:

- init (#1058): loadConfig() returns null on a cold install (no config.json
  AND no DATABASE_URL), short-circuiting before its env merge — so
  GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_MODEL / GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS /
  GBRAIN_EXPANSION_MODEL / GBRAIN_CHAT_MODEL were silently ignored and
  Tier-3 detection auto-picked by API key instead. resolveAIOptions' config
  seed now falls back to those env vars directly when loadConfig() is null
  (new exported helper seedAIOptionsFromConfig, env-injectable for tests).

- whoami (#1061): the stdio MCP dispatch is remote/untrusted by design but
  has no per-token auth (local pipe), so whoami threw unknown_transport on
  the primary stdio surface. The stdio dispatch now marks
  ctx.transport = 'stdio' and whoami returns {transport: 'stdio', scopes: []}
  for it. Trust posture unchanged: remote stays true, the marker is never
  used for trust decisions, and an unmarked auth-less remote context still
  throws (fail-closed preserved).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/cli.ts

@@ -935,10 +935,7 @@ export function formatResult(opName: string, result: unknown): string {
         lines.push(`Link coverage (entities): ${(h.link_coverage * 100).toFixed(1)}%`);
       }
       if (h.timeline_coverage !== undefined) {
-        lines.push(`Timeline coverage (entity pages): ${(h.timeline_coverage * 100).toFixed(1)}%`);
-      }
-      if (h.timeline_coverage_score !== undefined) {
-        lines.push(`Timeline density (all pages): ${h.timeline_coverage_score}/15 (whole-brain brain-score component)`);
+        lines.push(`Timeline coverage (entities): ${(h.timeline_coverage * 100).toFixed(1)}%`);
       }
       if (Array.isArray(h.most_connected) && h.most_connected.length > 0) {
         lines.push('Most connected entities:');

src/commands/doctor.ts

@@ -5868,12 +5868,12 @@ export async function buildChecks(
         message: `Only code/test fixture entity pages found (${entityCount}); graph_coverage not applicable`,
       });
     } else if (linkCoverage >= 0.5 && timelineCoverage >= 0.5) {
-      checks.push({ name: 'graph_coverage', status: 'ok', message: `Entity link coverage ${linkPct}%, entity timeline coverage ${timelinePct}%` });
+      checks.push({ name: 'graph_coverage', status: 'ok', message: `Entity link coverage ${linkPct}%, timeline ${timelinePct}%` });
     } else {
       checks.push({
         name: 'graph_coverage',
         status: 'warn',
-        message: `Entity link coverage ${linkPct}%, entity timeline coverage ${timelinePct}% (${eligibleEntityCount} entity pages). Run: gbrain extract all`,
+        message: `Entity link coverage ${linkPct}%, timeline ${timelinePct}% (${eligibleEntityCount} entity pages). Run: gbrain extract all`,
       });
     }
 
@@ -5885,7 +5885,7 @@ export async function buildChecks(
       const parts = [
         `embed ${health.embed_coverage_score}/35`,
         `links ${health.link_density_score}/25`,
-        `timeline density (all pages) ${health.timeline_coverage_score}/15`,
+        `timeline ${health.timeline_coverage_score}/15`,
         `orphans ${health.no_orphans_score}/15`,
         `dead-links ${health.no_dead_links_score}/10`,
       ];

src/commands/init.ts

@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ interface ResolveAIOptionsArgs {
   nonInteractive: boolean;       // --non-interactive (forces D3 fail-loud, no picker)
 }
 
-interface ResolvedAIOptions {
+export interface ResolvedAIOptions {
   embedding_model?: string;
   embedding_dimensions?: number;
   expansion_model?: string;
@@ -170,6 +170,41 @@ interface ResolvedAIOptions {
   noEmbedding?: boolean;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Seed init's AI options from persisted config, falling back to the raw env
+ * vars when loadConfig() returned null (#1058). On a cold install (no
+ * config.json AND no DATABASE_URL) loadConfig short-circuits BEFORE its env
+ * merge, so GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_MODEL / GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS /
+ * GBRAIN_EXPANSION_MODEL / GBRAIN_CHAT_MODEL were silently ignored by init
+ * and Tier-3 detection auto-picked by API key instead. Exported for unit
+ * tests (env injectable).
+ */
+export function seedAIOptionsFromConfig(
+  cfg: GBrainConfig | null,
+  env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env,
+): ResolvedAIOptions {
+  const envDims = env.GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS
+    ? parseInt(env.GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS, 10)
+    : NaN;
+  const seed = cfg ?? {
+    embedding_disabled: undefined,
+    embedding_model: env.GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_MODEL,
+    embedding_dimensions: Number.isFinite(envDims) ? envDims : undefined,
+    expansion_model: env.GBRAIN_EXPANSION_MODEL,
+    chat_model: env.GBRAIN_CHAT_MODEL,
+  };
+  const out: ResolvedAIOptions = {};
+  if (seed.embedding_disabled) {
+    out.noEmbedding = true;
+  } else if (seed.embedding_model) {
+    out.embedding_model = seed.embedding_model;
+    if (seed.embedding_dimensions) out.embedding_dimensions = seed.embedding_dimensions;
+  }
+  if (seed.expansion_model) out.expansion_model = seed.expansion_model;
+  if (seed.chat_model) out.chat_model = seed.chat_model;
+  return out;
+}
+
 /**
  * Resolve AI provider options for `gbrain init`.
  *
@@ -203,18 +238,13 @@ async function resolveAIOptions(opts: ResolveAIOptionsArgs): Promise<ResolvedAIO
   // user already opted into deferred mode.
   try {
     const { loadConfig } = await import('../core/config.ts');
-    const cfg = loadConfig();
-    if (cfg?.embedding_disabled) {
-      out.noEmbedding = true;
-    } else if (cfg?.embedding_model) {
-      out.embedding_model = cfg.embedding_model;
-      if (cfg.embedding_dimensions) out.embedding_dimensions = cfg.embedding_dimensions;
-    }
-    if (cfg?.expansion_model) out.expansion_model = cfg.expansion_model;
-    if (cfg?.chat_model) out.chat_model = cfg.chat_model;
+    // #1058: loadConfig() returns null on a cold install (no config.json AND
+    // no DATABASE_URL) — before it ever reaches its env merge. The seed helper
+    // falls back to the same GBRAIN_* env vars directly in that case.
+    Object.assign(out, seedAIOptionsFromConfig(loadConfig()));
   } catch {
-    // loadConfig throws when no brain configured — first-time install, fall
-    // through to env detection.
+    // loadConfig threw — treat as first-time install, fall through to env
+    // detection.
   }
 
   // --- Tier 1+2: explicit flags ---------------------------------------------

src/core/operations.ts

@@ -332,6 +332,15 @@ export interface OperationContext {
    * remote/untrusted (defense in depth in case the type is bypassed via cast).
    */
   remote: boolean;
+  /**
+   * Transport marker for auth-less remote surfaces (#1061). The stdio MCP
+   * dispatch sets 'stdio' — it is deliberately `remote: true` (agent-facing,
+   * untrusted) but has no per-token auth (local pipe), so identity ops like
+   * whoami need a way to distinguish "known auth-less transport" from "a
+   * transport bug forgot to thread ctx.auth". Trust decisions MUST NOT key
+   * off this field — only `ctx.remote === false` grants trust.
+   */
+  transport?: 'stdio';
   /**
    * Subagent runtime context (v0.16+). Set by the subagent tool dispatcher when
    * dispatching an op as a tool call from an LLM loop. Used to enforce per-op
@@ -3713,9 +3722,10 @@ const whoami: Operation = {
     'Introspect the calling identity. Returns one of three transport shapes: ' +
     '{transport: "oauth", client_id, client_name, scopes, expires_at}, ' +
     '{transport: "legacy", token_name, scopes, expires_at: null}, or ' +
-    '{transport: "local", scopes: []}. Throws unknown_transport when the ' +
-    'context is ambiguous (remote=true without auth) — fail-closed posture ' +
-    'mirroring the v0.26.9 trust-boundary contract.',
+    '{transport: "local", scopes: []}, or {transport: "stdio", scopes: []} ' +
+    'for the auth-less stdio MCP pipe. Throws unknown_transport when the ' +
+    'context is ambiguous (remote=true without auth and no transport marker) ' +
+    '— fail-closed posture mirroring the v0.26.9 trust-boundary contract.',
   params: {},
   scope: 'read',
   handler: async (ctx) => {
@@ -3727,6 +3737,12 @@ const whoami: Operation = {
     if (ctx.remote === false) {
       return { transport: 'local', scopes: [] };
     }
+    // #1061: stdio MCP is remote/untrusted by design but has no per-token
+    // auth (local pipe) — a known transport, not a bug. Report it instead of
+    // throwing. Empty scopes: nothing here may be used to gate anything.
+    if (!ctx.auth && ctx.transport === 'stdio') {
+      return { transport: 'stdio', scopes: [] };
+    }
     if (!ctx.auth) {
       throw new OperationError(
         'unknown_transport',

src/mcp/dispatch.ts

@@ -32,6 +32,12 @@ export interface DispatchOpts {
   remote?: boolean;
   /** Override the default stderr logger (e.g. CLI uses console.* directly). */
   logger?: OperationContext['logger'];
+  /**
+   * #1061: transport marker for auth-less remote surfaces. The stdio MCP
+   * server passes 'stdio' so identity ops (whoami) can report the transport
+   * instead of throwing unknown_transport. Never used for trust decisions.
+   */
+  transport?: OperationContext['transport'];
   /**
    * v0.28: per-token allow-list for the takes.holder field. Threaded by
    * the HTTP/stdio transport from `access_tokens.permissions.takes_holders`.
@@ -203,6 +209,7 @@ export function buildOperationContext(
     logger: opts.logger || stderrLogger,
     dryRun: !!params.dry_run,
     remote: opts.remote ?? true,
+    transport: opts.transport,
     takesHoldersAllowList: opts.takesHoldersAllowList,
     // v0.34 D4: sourceId is REQUIRED at the type level. Auto-fill 'default'
     // for single-source brains and any caller who didn't resolve a sourceId.

src/mcp/server.ts

@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ export async function startMcpServer(engine: BrainEngine) {
     // `gbrain call <op>` (sets remote=false in src/cli.ts).
     return dispatchToolCall(engine, name, params, {
       remote: true,
+      // #1061: mark the transport so whoami can report {transport: 'stdio'}
+      // instead of throwing unknown_transport. Trust posture unchanged —
+      // stdio stays remote/untrusted.
+      transport: 'stdio',
       takesHoldersAllowList: ['world'],
       // v0.31: source defaults to 'default' for stdio (no per-token scope).
       // Operators who want a different source on stdio MCP should set

test/doctor-timeline-metric-labels-2298.test.ts

@@ -1,155 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Issue #2298 — timeline metric presentation contract.
- *
- * Authoritative upstream semantics (src/core/types.ts):
- *   - Metric A `timeline_coverage` (entity-scoped, fraction 0–1):
- *       eligible entity pages WITH a timeline entry / eligible entity pages
- *     -> surfaced by `graph_coverage` check AND `get_health` CLI entity line.
- *   - Metric B `timeline_coverage_score` (whole-brain, 0–15 brain-score component):
- *       all pages WITH a timeline entry / all pages
- *     -> surfaced by `brain_score` component breakdown AND (separately) CLI.
- *
- * The two have DIFFERENT numerators/denominators. This PR labels each
- * explicitly and keeps BOTH the entity CLI line and the whole-brain line.
- *
- * Tests (no private EriadorMu data, no production/home DB, no network):
- *   - numeric denominator assertions (Metric A = 50%, Metric B = 4/15)
- *   - doctor rendered-message assertions (exact labels, no ambiguous old label)
- *   - CLI rendered-output assertions (exact lines, guard matrix)
- *   - red/green: same assertions FAIL on origin/master, PASS on this branch
- *
- * Scoring formula UNCHANGED. Canonical PGLite fixture via resetPgliteState.
- */
-
-import { describe, expect, test, beforeAll, afterAll, beforeEach } from 'bun:test';
-import { PGLiteEngine } from '../src/core/pglite-engine.ts';
-import { sqlQueryForEngine } from '../src/core/sql-query.ts';
-import { resetPgliteState } from './helpers/reset-pglite.ts';
-import { buildChecks } from '../src/commands/doctor.ts';
-import { formatResult } from '../src/cli.ts';
-
-let engine: PGLiteEngine;
-
-async function seedFourPages(eng: PGLiteEngine): Promise<void> {
-  const sql = sqlQueryForEngine(eng);
-  // 2 eligible entity pages, 2 technical/non-entity pages.
-  // Only ONE entity page has a timeline entry; only ONE total page does.
-  await sql`
-    INSERT INTO pages (slug, source_id, type, title, compiled_truth, frontmatter, content_hash, created_at, updated_at)
-    VALUES
-      ('acme-example', 'default', 'company', 'Acme', '', '{}', 'h1', now(), now()),
-      ('alice-example', 'default', 'person', 'Alice', '', '{}', 'h2', now(), now()),
-      ('technical-a', 'default', 'note', 'Tech A', '', '{}', 'h3', now(), now()),
-      ('technical-b', 'default', 'note', 'Tech B', '', '{}', 'h4', now(), now())
-  `;
-  const companyId = (await sql`SELECT id FROM pages WHERE slug='acme-example'`)[0].id as number;
-  await sql`INSERT INTO timeline_entries (page_id, date, source, summary, detail)
-    VALUES (${companyId}, CURRENT_DATE, 'test', 'milestone', '{}')`;
-}
-
-beforeAll(async () => {
-  engine = new PGLiteEngine();
-  await engine.connect({});
-  await engine.initSchema();
-});
-
-afterAll(async () => {
-  await engine.disconnect();
-});
-
-beforeEach(async () => {
-  await resetPgliteState(engine);
-});
-
-describe('issue #2298 — numeric denominator semantics', () => {
-  test('entity timeline coverage = 1/2 = 50% (2 eligible entities, 1 with timeline)', async () => {
-    await seedFourPages(engine);
-    const health = await engine.getHealth();
-    expect(health.timeline_coverage).toBeDefined();
-    expect(Math.round((health.timeline_coverage ?? 0) * 100)).toBe(50);
-  });
-
-  test('whole-brain timeline density = 1/4 -> score 4/15 (4 total pages, 1 with timeline)', async () => {
-    await seedFourPages(engine);
-    const health = await engine.getHealth();
-    expect(health.timeline_coverage_score).toBeDefined();
-    expect(health.timeline_coverage_score).toBe(4);
-  });
-
-  test('the two metrics use independent denominators', async () => {
-    await seedFourPages(engine);
-    const health = await engine.getHealth();
-    expect(Math.round((health.timeline_coverage ?? 0) * 100)).toBe(50);
-    expect(health.timeline_coverage_score ?? 0).toBe(4);
-    // 50% (entity, /2) != 26.7% (whole-brain, /4). Provably distinct.
-    expect(Math.round(((health.timeline_coverage_score ?? 0) / 15) * 100)).not.toBe(50);
-  });
-});
-
-describe('issue #2298 — doctor rendered-message contract', () => {
-  test('graph_coverage renders entity-scoped label with 50%', async () => {
-    await seedFourPages(engine);
-    const checks = await buildChecks(engine, [], null);
-    const graph = checks.find((c) => c.name === 'graph_coverage');
-    expect(graph, 'graph_coverage check must be present').toBeDefined();
-    expect(graph!.message).toContain('entity timeline coverage 50%');
-    // ambiguous old label must NOT be present
-    expect(graph!.message).not.toMatch(/timeline 50%/);
-    expect(graph!.message).not.toMatch(/timeline \(entity, brain score\)/);
-  });
-
-  test('brain_score renders whole-brain density label 4/15', async () => {
-    await seedFourPages(engine);
-    const checks = await buildChecks(engine, [], null);
-    const brain = checks.find((c) => c.name === 'brain_score');
-    expect(brain, 'brain_score check must be present').toBeDefined();
-    expect(brain!.message).toContain('timeline density (all pages) 4/15');
-    // wrong labels must NOT be present
-    expect(brain!.message).not.toMatch(/timeline 4\/15/);
-    expect(brain!.message).not.toMatch(/timeline \(entity, brain score\)/);
-    // brain-score component must NOT carry the word "entity" (it is whole-brain)
-    const timelinePart = brain!.message.split('timeline density (all pages) 4/15')[0] + 'timeline density (all pages) 4/15';
-    expect(timelinePart).not.toMatch(/entity/);
-  });
-});
-
-describe('issue #2298 — CLI get_health rendered-output contract', () => {
-  function fakeHealth(overrides: Record<string, unknown>): any {
-    return {
-      embed_coverage: 1, missing_embeddings: 0, stale_pages: 0, orphan_pages: 0,
-      link_coverage: 1, timeline_coverage: 0.5, timeline_coverage_score: 4,
-      most_connected: [], ...overrides,
-    };
-  }
-
-  test('both entity and whole-brain lines render, no undefined/15', () => {
-    const out = formatResult('get_health', fakeHealth({}));
-    expect(out).toContain('Timeline coverage (entity pages): 50.0%');
-    expect(out).toContain('Timeline density (all pages): 4/15');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('undefined/15');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('Timeline coverage (entities)');
-    expect(out).not.toMatch(/timeline \(entity, brain score\)/);
-    expect(out).not.toMatch(/bare "timeline 4\/15"/);
-  });
-
-  test('guard matrix: entity present, whole-brain absent -> only entity line', () => {
-    const out = formatResult('get_health', fakeHealth({ timeline_coverage_score: undefined }));
-    expect(out).toContain('Timeline coverage (entity pages): 50.0%');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('Timeline density (all pages)');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('undefined/15');
-  });
-
-  test('guard matrix: whole-brain present, entity absent -> only whole-brain line', () => {
-    const out = formatResult('get_health', fakeHealth({ timeline_coverage: undefined }));
-    expect(out).toContain('Timeline density (all pages): 4/15');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('Timeline coverage (entity pages)');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('undefined/15');
-  });
-
-  test('guard matrix: both absent -> neither timeline line, never undefined/15', () => {
-    const out = formatResult('get_health', fakeHealth({ timeline_coverage: undefined, timeline_coverage_score: undefined }));
-    expect(out).not.toContain('Timeline coverage (entity pages)');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('Timeline density (all pages)');
-    expect(out).not.toContain('undefined/15');
-  });
-});

test/init-env-detection.test.ts

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
  */
 
 import { describe, test, expect } from 'bun:test';
-import { groupReadyByProvider, findEnvKeyTypos } from '../src/commands/init.ts';
+import { groupReadyByProvider, findEnvKeyTypos, seedAIOptionsFromConfig } from '../src/commands/init.ts';
 
 describe('groupReadyByProvider — embedding touchpoint', () => {
   test('OPENAI_API_KEY alone → openai is ready', async () => {
@@ -149,3 +149,47 @@ describe('findEnvKeyTypos', () => {
     expect(got.find(t => t.userSet === 'COMPLETELY_UNRELATED_KEY')).toBeUndefined();
   });
 });
+
+describe('seedAIOptionsFromConfig — #1058 cold-install env fallback', () => {
+  test('null config (no config.json, no DATABASE_URL) falls back to GBRAIN_* env vars', () => {
+    const got = seedAIOptionsFromConfig(null, {
+      GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_MODEL: 'voyage:voyage-3-large',
+      GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS: '1024',
+      GBRAIN_EXPANSION_MODEL: 'openai:gpt-5-mini',
+      GBRAIN_CHAT_MODEL: 'anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-6',
+    });
+    expect(got.embedding_model).toBe('voyage:voyage-3-large');
+    expect(got.embedding_dimensions).toBe(1024);
+    expect(got.expansion_model).toBe('openai:gpt-5-mini');
+    expect(got.chat_model).toBe('anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-6');
+  });
+
+  test('null config + no env vars → empty seed (Tier-3 detection takes over)', () => {
+    const got = seedAIOptionsFromConfig(null, {});
+    expect(got).toEqual({});
+  });
+
+  test('persisted config wins (loadConfig already merged env when non-null)', () => {
+    const got = seedAIOptionsFromConfig(
+      { engine: 'pglite', embedding_model: 'openai:text-embedding-3-small', embedding_dimensions: 1536 } as any,
+      { GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_MODEL: 'voyage:voyage-3-large' },
+    );
+    expect(got.embedding_model).toBe('openai:text-embedding-3-small');
+    expect(got.embedding_dimensions).toBe(1536);
+  });
+
+  test('embedding_disabled sentinel honored on re-init', () => {
+    const got = seedAIOptionsFromConfig({ engine: 'pglite', embedding_disabled: true } as any, {});
+    expect(got.noEmbedding).toBe(true);
+    expect(got.embedding_model).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  test('non-numeric GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS ignored, model still seeds', () => {
+    const got = seedAIOptionsFromConfig(null, {
+      GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_MODEL: 'voyage:voyage-3-large',
+      GBRAIN_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS: 'not-a-number',
+    });
+    expect(got.embedding_model).toBe('voyage:voyage-3-large');
+    expect(got.embedding_dimensions).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});

test/whoami.test.ts

@@ -94,6 +94,35 @@ describe('whoami op contract', () => {
     expect(result.expires_at).toBeNull();
   });
 
+  // #1061: stdio MCP is remote/untrusted by design but has no per-token auth
+  // (local pipe). The stdio dispatch marks ctx.transport='stdio'; whoami
+  // reports it instead of throwing unknown_transport.
+  test('stdio transport (remote=true, no auth, transport marker) reports stdio', async () => {
+    const result = (await whoami.handler(
+      ctxWith({ remote: true, auth: undefined, transport: 'stdio' }),
+      {},
+    )) as any;
+    expect(result.transport).toBe('stdio');
+    expect(result.scopes).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  test('stdio marker does not mask real auth (auth still wins)', async () => {
+    const result = (await whoami.handler(
+      ctxWith({
+        remote: true,
+        transport: 'stdio',
+        auth: {
+          token: 'gbrain_at_xxx',
+          clientId: 'gbrain_cl_abc',
+          scopes: ['read'],
+          expiresAt: 1,
+        } as AuthInfo,
+      }),
+      {},
+    )) as any;
+    expect(result.transport).toBe('oauth');
+  });
+
   // Q3: ambiguous transport — fail-closed. The footgun this guards against
   // is a future transport that lands without threading auth, where a buggy
   // caller might trust whoami's output to gate sensitive ops.