# LM Studio memory-safety protocol

The local machine has 64 GiB of unified memory. The observed Qwen3.6 agent model
file is approximately 20.4 GB and the embedding model is approximately 0.64 GB;
runtime state and KV cache add pressure beyond weight-file sizes. Model
co-residency is therefore forbidden by the experiment runner even when both
models technically fit.

## Phase separation

1. **Retrieval/index phase:** unload `qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b`; load only
   `text-embedding-qwen3-embedding-0.6b`; batch code and query embeddings; store
   vectors in the content-addressed SQLite cache.
2. **Agent phase:** finish all required embedding calls; unload the embedding
   instance; load only the Qwen3.6 agent using the pinned 262,144 context; run
   model/tool interactions.
3. **Iterative dense-query treatments:** alternate residency at explicit phase
   boundaries. Persist conversation state and query text before unloading. Do
   not rely on both models being resident for low latency.
4. **Cleanup:** unload the active model after a run block unless the next block
   needs the same model immediately.

LM Studio's native `POST /api/v1/models/load` and
`POST /api/v1/models/unload` endpoints are used for explicit residency control.
The E00 runner queries `/api/v1/models` and aborts unless the embedding model is
the only resident instance.

## Pressure observations and stop conditions

The initial audit reported 53% system-wide free memory, but the VM counters also
showed substantial historical compression and swap activity. A run block must
stop rather than continue when:

- an unexpected model is resident;
- available memory enters macOS critical pressure;
- swap grows rapidly during a steady-state batch;
- embedding requests begin timing out or the OS kills a process; or
- index construction exceeds the configured disk or wall-time budget.

Weights, index caches, and result artifacts are not evidence of comparable
compute cost. The study records load/unload time, index time, query time, model
latency, and resource samples separately.