slope-stability gate: the PROJECT'S OWN target is met for the first time — 5922 < 6026 over both sets at 193/199 with the guarantee intact (slope.ratio.derived3.project: APS 2848 + CHA 3074), CHA improves 4516 -> 2903 (x1.56), repairs 77.5% -> 55.3%. Honest cost: APS 2806 -> 2848, which moves us from 1st to 3rd on the canonical set (chandrupatla 2785, toms748 2820), so my stricter S1 fails while the project target passes — a positioning decision, recorded not resolved. Refusal CURRENCY is what decides: bracket progress 4449 vs model shape 2848, a 1601-evaluation difference for the same 'refuse before the step' idea

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

sweep_full.py

@@ -125,7 +125,9 @@ def label(spec):
     if len(spec) > 4 and spec[4] != "x":
         tag = spec[4]
     if len(spec) > 5 and spec[5] != "none":
-        tag = f"{tag}+gate" if tag != "pure" else "gate"
+        # name the gate by WHICH gate it is: "progress" is a measured negative and must
+        # never be confused with "slope" in a results file
+        tag = f"{tag}+{spec[5]}" if tag != "pure" else spec[5]
     return f"{tag}.{spec[1]}.{spec[2]}.{spec[3]}"
 
 
@@ -189,6 +191,15 @@ def build_grid_log(smoke):
             for sim in sims for sc in ("derived", "derived3") for gu in guards]
 
 
+def build_grid_slope(smoke):
+    """The slope-stability gate grid (PREREG 2026-09-21). Only derived scales: there must be
+    a slope to judge. Baselines are not recomputed — they are in sweep_full.json."""
+    sims = ["ratio", "sqrt"] if smoke else sorted(PURE_SIMS)
+    guards = ("credit", "safe") if smoke else GUARD_MODES
+    return [("pure", sim, sc, gu, "x", "slope")
+            for sim in sims for sc in ("derived", "derived3") for gu in guards]
+
+
 def build_grid_gate(smoke):
     """The pre-step gate grid (PREREG 2026-09-21): the published x-space step with the
     gate switched on. Baselines are not recomputed - they are already in sweep_full.json."""
@@ -219,7 +230,9 @@ def main():
     smoke = "--smoke" in sys.argv
     logmode = "--log" in sys.argv          # the u-space grid, written to its OWN file
     gatemode = "--gate" in sys.argv        # the pre-step gate grid, likewise
-    specs = (build_grid_gate(smoke) if gatemode else
+    slopemode = "--slope" in sys.argv      # the slope-stability gate grid
+    specs = (build_grid_slope(smoke) if slopemode else
+             build_grid_gate(smoke) if gatemode else
              build_grid_log(smoke) if logmode else build_grid(smoke))
     t0 = time.time()
     print(f"sweep: {len(specs)} configurations x 199 problems "
@@ -236,6 +249,13 @@ def main():
 
     # the published sweep_full.json is what verify_article.py checks the paper
     # against, so the log grid never writes into it
+    if slopemode:
+        out = "sweep_slope_smoke.json" if smoke else "sweep_slope.json"
+        with open(out, "w", encoding="utf8") as fh:
+            json.dump(results, fh)
+        print(f"\nwrote {out}  ({time.time() - t0:.0f}s total)\n", flush=True)
+        report(results)
+        return
     if gatemode:
         # never into sweep_full.json: that file is what verify_article.py checks the
         # paper against, and the smoke run of 2026-09-21 did land in sweep_smoke.json