File size: 29,120 Bytes
59022ca
e187916
59022ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e187916
 
59022ca
 
 
e187916
 
 
 
 
 
59022ca
 
e187916
59022ca
b038669
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
59022ca
e187916
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
59022ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e187916
59022ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e187916
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
59022ca
 
 
 
 
e187916
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
59022ca
 
e187916
59022ca
 
 
e187916
 
59022ca
 
b038669
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e187916
59022ca
b038669
 
e187916
59022ca
e187916
b038669
 
 
 
 
59022ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
b038669
 
59022ca
 
 
 
 
b038669
 
 
 
59022ca
b038669
 
 
59022ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e187916
b038669
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
59022ca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
e187916
b038669
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
59022ca
 
 
 
e187916
b038669
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
cb71765
 
 
 
 
e187916
 
59022ca
e187916
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
"""Decision making: menu-mediated, model-agnostic.

The design lesson from testing tiny models on real screenshots: a 256M VLM can
*read* a button label from pixels but cannot reliably reason, and a 0.5B text model
writes perfect JSON but picks the wrong widget when handed noisy free-form text.
Both do much better when the harness hands them a **short numbered menu** and asks
for a number. That is what this module builds, and it keeps the model's output space
finite no matter how small the model is.

Brains shipped here:

* :class:`MockBrain`    - replays a scripted action list (tests, demos, replays)
* :class:`PlannerBrain` - rule-based, no model: clicks the element matching the goal
* :class:`ModelBrain`   - base for real models: menu, prompt, lenient parsing
  (see :mod:`tiny_computer_agent.models` for the text and vision backends)
"""

from __future__ import annotations

import json
import re
from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import Any, Iterator, Mapping, Protocol, Sequence

from tiny_computer_agent.actions import ACTION_KINDS, Action, ActionError, parse_action
from tiny_computer_agent.decoding import (
    brevity_ladder,
    choice_token_ids,
    digit_token_ids,
    majority_choice,
    pair_token_ids,
    read_choice,
    read_verdict,
)
from tiny_computer_agent.observe import Element, Observation, normalise_label


class BrainError(RuntimeError):
    """Raised when a brain cannot produce a valid action."""


class GoalUnreachable(BrainError):
    """Raised by a brain that can decide nothing further, without claiming success.

    Deliberately distinct from a crash: the harness records the episode as a
    *failure*, because a brain admitting "I give up" must never be logged as
    "goal met" - and the harness, not the brain, owns that judgement.
    """


def extract_json_objects(raw: str) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
    """Every flat JSON object in a reply, in the order they appear.

    Regex-based and non-nesting: replies from tiny models are one-level objects.
    Callers should prefer the **last** object, because a model that echoes its own
    prompt before answering puts the prompt's example first and its answer last.
    """
    objects: list[dict[str, Any]] = []
    for match in re.finditer(r"\{[^{}]*\}", raw or "", re.DOTALL):
        try:
            payload = json.loads(match.group(0))
        except json.JSONDecodeError:
            continue
        if isinstance(payload, dict):
            objects.append(payload)
    return objects


def extract_json_object(raw: str) -> dict[str, Any]:
    """The decision out of a reply: the *last* JSON object, not the first."""
    objects = extract_json_objects(raw)
    if not objects:
        raise BrainError(f"no JSON object in the model reply: {(raw or '')[:200]!r}")
    return objects[-1]


@dataclass(frozen=True)
class MenuItem:
    """One numbered choice shown to the model."""

    index: int
    element: Element

    @property
    def label(self) -> str:
        return self.element.label


class DecisionMenu:
    """A short, numbered, closed choice set built from the element index.

    Elements are presented in reading order (top to bottom, then left to right),
    and capped: a 20-item menu is as good as free-form text to a small model.
    """

    def __init__(self, observation: Observation, *, max_items: int = 12) -> None:
        ordered = sorted(observation.elements, key=lambda e: (e.y, e.x))[:max_items]
        self.items: tuple[MenuItem, ...] = tuple(
            MenuItem(index=i + 1, element=e) for i, e in enumerate(ordered)
        )

    def __len__(self) -> int:
        return len(self.items)

    def __bool__(self) -> bool:
        return bool(self.items)

    def __iter__(self) -> Iterator[MenuItem]:
        return iter(self.items)

    def item(self, value: Any) -> MenuItem | None:
        """Look up a 1-based index, tolerating the strings models actually send."""
        try:
            number = int(float(str(value).strip()))
        except (TypeError, ValueError):
            return None
        if 1 <= number <= len(self.items):
            return self.items[number - 1]
        return None

    def find(self, label: str) -> Element | None:
        """Resolve a label against the menu (normalised, like Observation.find)."""
        wanted = normalise_label(label)
        if not wanted:
            return None
        for item in self.items:
            if normalise_label(item.label) == wanted:
                return item.element
        for item in self.items:
            if wanted in normalise_label(item.label):
                return item.element
        return None

    def mentioned_in(self, text: str) -> tuple[MenuItem, ...]:
        """Menu entries whose label appears in the text, in order of first mention."""
        haystack = normalise_label(text)
        found: list[tuple[int, MenuItem]] = []
        for item in self.items:
            needle = normalise_label(item.label)
            if needle and (position := haystack.find(needle)) != -1:
                found.append((position, item))
        return tuple(item for _, item in sorted(found, key=lambda pair: pair[0]))

    def render(self) -> str:
        return "\n".join(
            f"  {item.index}. {item.label}  (at {item.element.center[0]},{item.element.center[1]})"
            for item in self.items
        )


def _recover_from_text(payload: Mapping[str, Any], menu: DecisionMenu) -> Action | None:
    """Salvage a decision from a payload that named the right thing in the wrong field.

    Observed for real: a 0.5B planner replied ``{"kind": "click", "index": 0,
    "reason": "Save"}`` - the correct answer, in the wrong place. If the index is
    unusable but exactly one menu label is mentioned anywhere in the payload, take
    the label. It is still only ever a label the detector saw in this frame, so the
    deny list, the dry run and the step budget all continue to apply.
    """
    text = json.dumps(payload, ensure_ascii=False)
    mentioned = menu.mentioned_in(text)
    if len({item.label for item in mentioned}) == 1:
        item = mentioned[0]
        return Action(
            "click", label=item.label,
            reason=f"recovered {item.label!r} from the model's reply: {text[:80]}",
        )
    return None


def _action_from_payload(payload: Mapping[str, Any], menu: DecisionMenu) -> Action | None:
    """Interpret one JSON object, tolerating the ways small models mangle the shape."""
    kind = payload.get("kind")
    if isinstance(kind, str) and kind.strip().lower() not in ACTION_KINDS:
        kind = None  # e.g. {"kind": "file"} - a garbled click; fall back to index/label

    if payload.get("index") is not None:
        item = menu.item(payload["index"])
        if item is not None:
            return Action("click", label=item.label, reason=f"menu index {payload['index']}")
        recovered = _recover_from_text(payload, menu)
        if recovered is not None:
            return recovered
        raise BrainError(
            f"the model chose index {payload['index']!r}, which is not in the "
            f"menu of {len(menu)} items"
        )

    if kind in (None, "click") and "label" in payload:
        element = menu.find(str(payload["label"]))
        if element is None:
            raise BrainError(f"the model named {payload['label']!r}, which is not on screen")
        return Action("click", label=element.label, reason=f"the model named {element.label!r}")

    if kind is not None:
        try:
            return parse_action(dict(payload, kind=kind))
        except ActionError as exc:
            # a valid-looking verb with no usable target: maybe the label is in the prose
            return _recover_from_text(payload, menu) or (_raise_brain_error(exc))

    return _recover_from_text(payload, menu)


def _raise_brain_error(exc: Exception) -> Action:
    raise BrainError(f"the model proposed an invalid action: {exc}") from exc


_DONE = re.compile(r"\b(done|finished|complete[d]?)\b", re.IGNORECASE)


def parse_decision(raw: str, observation: Observation, *, max_menu_items: int = 12) -> Action:
    """Turn a small model's reply into a validated Action - leniently, but safely.

    Tried in order:

    1. the **last** JSON object in the reply (``index``, ``label`` or a full action)
    2. a label the reply names (most specific evidence of intent)
    3. a bare menu number
    4. a "done" word

    A reply that mentions three or more menu entries is rejected as an echo of the
    prompt rather than a decision - the failure mode of the weakest models, and the
    one most likely to make an agent click something arbitrary.
    """
    text = " ".join((raw or "").split())
    if not text:
        raise BrainError("the model returned an empty reply")
    menu = DecisionMenu(observation, max_items=max_menu_items)

    for payload in reversed(extract_json_objects(text)):
        action = _action_from_payload(payload, menu)
        if action is not None:
            return action

    mentioned = menu.mentioned_in(text)
    if len(mentioned) >= 3:
        raise BrainError(
            f"the reply mentions {len(mentioned)} menu entries, so it looks like an echo "
            f"of the prompt rather than a decision: {text[:120]!r}"
        )
    if mentioned:
        item = mentioned[0]
        note = f"the reply names {item.label!r}"
        if len(mentioned) > 1:
            note += f" (ambiguous: {len(mentioned)} labels mentioned; took the first)"
        return Action("click", label=item.label, reason=note)

    number = re.search(r"\b(\d{1,2})\b", text)
    if number is not None:
        item = menu.item(number.group(1))
        if item is not None:
            return Action(
                "click", label=item.label,
                reason=f"menu index {number.group(1)} from reply {text[:40]!r}",
            )

    if _DONE.search(text):
        return Action("done", reason=_DONE.search(text).group(0).lower())

    raise BrainError(f"could not read a decision out of the reply: {text[:120]!r}")


class Brain(Protocol):
    """Anything that can turn (goal, observation) into one validated action."""

    name: str

    def decide(self, goal: str, observation: Observation) -> Action: ...


class MockBrain:
    """Replays a fixed script of actions, exactly once. Deterministic and offline."""

    name = "mock"

    def __init__(self, script: Sequence[Action | Mapping[str, Any]]) -> None:
        self._script: list[Action] = [
            a if isinstance(a, Action) else parse_action(a) for a in script
        ]
        self._cursor = 0

    @property
    def remaining(self) -> int:
        return max(0, len(self._script) - self._cursor)

    def decide(self, goal: str, observation: Observation) -> Action:
        if self._cursor >= len(self._script):
            return Action("done", reason="script exhausted")
        action = self._script[self._cursor]
        self._cursor += 1
        return action


class PlannerBrain:
    """Rule-based baseline: click the element matching the goal, then stop.

    Its purpose is threefold - it proves the harness works end to end with no model
    at all, it is a fallback when a model download is undesirable, and it shows how
    much of a "computer use" task is really an indexing problem. It waits when the
    target is not on screen yet, refuses to click the same label twice, and gives up
    rather than flailing. It will not generalise the way a model can.
    """

    name = "planner"

    def __init__(self, target: str | None = None, *,
                 done_when_text_contains: str | None = None,
                 max_waits: int = 3, wait_seconds: float = 0.5) -> None:
        self.target = target
        self.done_when_text_contains = done_when_text_contains
        self.max_waits = max_waits
        self.wait_seconds = wait_seconds
        self._clicked: set[str] = set()
        self._waits = 0

    def decide(self, goal: str, observation: Observation) -> Action:
        if self.done_when_text_contains:
            needle = self.done_when_text_contains.lower()
            if needle in observation.text.lower():
                return Action("done", reason=f"page text contains {self.done_when_text_contains!r}")

        target = self.target or self._target_from(goal)
        if target:
            element = observation.find(target)
            if element is None:
                if self._waits < self.max_waits:
                    self._waits += 1
                    return Action("wait", seconds=self.wait_seconds,
                                  reason=f"{target!r} is not on screen yet")
                raise GoalUnreachable(f"{target!r} never appeared on screen")
            key = element.label.strip().lower()
            if key in self._clicked:
                return Action("done", reason=f"already clicked {element.label!r}; goal assumed met")
            self._clicked.add(key)
            return Action("click", label=element.label,
                          reason=f"matched {target!r} in the element index")
        raise GoalUnreachable(f"no element name found in the goal {goal!r}")

    @staticmethod
    def _target_from(goal: str) -> str | None:
        """Best effort: quoted text wins, else the last capitalised word."""
        quoted = re.search(r"[\"\']([^\"\']{2,40})[\"\']", goal)
        if quoted:
            return quoted.group(1)
        words = [w for w in goal.split() if w[:1].isupper()]
        return words[-1].strip(".,!?") if words else None


class ModelBrain:
    """Shared plumbing for model-backed brains: menu, prompt, lenient parsing.

    Subclasses implement :meth:`_generate`. ``requires_index`` marks brains that
    cannot decide without an element index (a text-only planner): for those, an
    empty screen is a hard stop rather than a prompt.
    """

    name = "model"
    requires_index = False
    # a backend that can mask its own logits opts in, and then decision_mode
    # "choice" is available: ask for a menu number instead of asking for JSON
    supports_constrained = False
    # "json"   - free text, parsed leniently (the original behaviour)
    # "choice" - one masked generation, a menu number
    # "scan"   - one yes/no question per item, masked, first yes wins
    # "rank"   - the same questions, but ranked by the yes/no log-odds margin,
    #            which does not reward whichever item happened to be asked first
    decision_mode = "json"

    def __init__(self, model_id: str, *, max_menu_items: int = 12,
                 max_new_tokens: int = 64, decision_mode: str = "json",
                 retries: int = 3, votes: int = 1) -> None:
        self.model_id = model_id
        self.max_menu_items = max_menu_items
        self.max_new_tokens = max_new_tokens
        self.decision_mode = decision_mode
        self.retries = max(1, retries)
        self.votes = max(1, votes)
        self.last_choice: int | None = None
        self.echoes_refused = 0
        self.last_prompt: str | None = None
        self.last_reply: str | None = None
        # "what I already tried", newest last; each entry's outcome is filled in at
        # the next decision, when the new observation can be compared to the old one
        self.history: list[str] = []
        self._last_fingerprint: tuple | None = None

    @staticmethod
    def _fingerprint(observation: Observation) -> tuple:
        return (tuple(element.label for element in observation.elements),
                observation.text[:200])

    def build_prompt(self, goal: str, menu: DecisionMenu, observation: Observation,
                     *, history: Sequence[str] = (), screen_changed: bool = True,
                     brevity: int = 0) -> str:
        """A short prompt with a strict output shape.

        Deliberately contains placeholders (``<number>``) rather than worked
        examples: the weakest models echo the prompt back, and an echoed
        placeholder fails validation instead of being mistaken for a decision.

        ``brevity`` is the retry ladder: echoing is driven by how much text the
        model has to copy, so each step upwards drops a section - first the screen
        text and the history, then everything but the menu.
        """
        if self.decision_mode == "choice":
            return self._choice_prompt(goal, menu, observation,
                                       history=history, brevity=brevity)
        lines = [
            "You are controlling a computer. Choose exactly one action.",
            "",
            "Reply with one JSON object and nothing else, in this shape:",
            '  {"kind": "click", "index": <number from the list>, "reason": "<brief>"}',
            '  {"kind": "done", "reason": "<brief>"}',
            "Use done only when the goal is already met.",
            "",
            f"Goal: {goal}",
        ]
        if observation.text:
            lines += ["", f"Text on screen: {observation.text[:300]}"]
        lines += ["", f"Clickable items ({len(menu)}):"]
        lines.append(menu.render() if menu else "  (none detected)")
        if history:
            lines += ["", "Already attempted - do NOT repeat these, they did not work:"]
            lines += [f"  - {entry}" for entry in history]
        if not screen_changed:
            lines += ["", "The screen did not change after your last action. "
                          "Choose a DIFFERENT action."]
        return "\n".join(lines)

    def _choice_prompt(self, goal: str, menu: DecisionMenu, observation: Observation,
                       *, history: Sequence[str] = (), brevity: int = 0) -> str:
        """The constrained-mode prompt: one number, and as little text as possible.

        There is no JSON shape to copy and no worked example - the whole point of
        the masked path is that the model has nothing to echo.
        """
        lines = [
            "You are controlling a computer. Reply with ONE NUMBER and nothing else.",
            "0 means the goal is already met. Any other number is the item to click.",
            "",
            f"Goal: {goal}",
        ]
        if brevity == 0 and observation.text:
            lines += ["", f"Text on screen: {observation.text[:200]}"]
        lines += ["", f"Items ({len(menu)}):", menu.render() if menu else "  (none detected)"]
        if brevity == 0 and history:
            lines += ["", "Already tried, and it did not work:"]
            lines += [f"  - {entry}" for entry in history]
        return "\n".join(lines)

    def decide(self, goal: str, observation: Observation) -> Action:
        menu = DecisionMenu(observation, max_items=self.max_menu_items)
        if self.requires_index and not menu:
            raise GoalUnreachable(
                "no clickable elements on screen - is screen capture and OCR working?"
            )
        fingerprint = self._fingerprint(observation)
        screen_changed = (self._last_fingerprint is None
                          or fingerprint != self._last_fingerprint)

        # Finalise the previous attempt first: only now do we know whether it changed
        # anything, and "you already tried this and nothing happened" is the single most
        # useful thing to tell a small model.
        if self.history:
            previous = self.history[-1].split(" -> ")[0]
            self.history[-1] = (
                f"{previous} -> "
                + ("the screen changed" if screen_changed else "the screen did NOT change")
            )

        self.last_prompt = self.build_prompt(
            goal, menu, observation, history=tuple(self.history),
            screen_changed=screen_changed,
        )
        if self.decision_mode == "rank" and self.supports_constrained:
            action = self._decide_by_ranking(goal, menu, observation)
        elif self.decision_mode == "scan" and self.supports_constrained:
            action = self._decide_by_scanning(goal, menu, observation)
        elif self.decision_mode == "choice" and self.supports_constrained:
            action = self._decide_by_choice(goal, menu, observation)
        else:
            self.last_reply = self._generate(self.last_prompt, observation)
            action = parse_decision(self.last_reply, observation,
                                    max_menu_items=self.max_menu_items)
        self.history.append(action.describe())
        del self.history[:-3]
        self._last_fingerprint = fingerprint
        return action

    def _decide_by_choice(self, goal: str, menu: DecisionMenu,
                          observation: Observation) -> Action:
        """Ask for a menu number with every other token masked out.

        The echo failure cannot happen here: the model is unable to emit the prompt
        back, only one of the numbers we allow. When even that fails, the prompt
        gets shorter (echoing is driven by prompt length) and, if ``votes`` is set,
        the answer is taken by majority over several samples.
        """
        if not menu:
            raise GoalUnreachable("no clickable items to choose from")
        tokenizer = self._tokenizer_for_choice()
        allowed = choice_token_ids(tokenizer, len(menu))
        if not allowed:
            allowed = digit_token_ids(tokenizer)
        if not allowed:
            raise BrainError(
                "this tokenizer cannot express a menu number as a single token, so "
                "the choice cannot be constrained; use decision_mode='json'"
            )

        last_error: BrainError | None = None
        for brevity in brevity_ladder(self.retries):
            self.last_prompt = self.build_prompt(
                goal, menu, observation, history=tuple(self.history), brevity=brevity)
            replies = [
                self._generate_constrained(self.last_prompt, observation, allowed, 4,
                                           sample=index > 0)
                for index in range(self.votes)
            ]
            self.last_reply = replies[0] if replies else ""
            choices = [read_choice(reply, len(menu)) for reply in replies]
            number = majority_choice(choices)
            if number is None:
                self.echoes_refused += sum(1 for reply in replies
                                           if reply and reply.strip() == self.last_prompt.strip())
                last_error = BrainError(
                    f"the constrained reply was not a menu number: "
                    f"{self.last_reply[:80]!r} (brevity {brevity}, {len(replies)} vote(s))"
                )
                continue
            self.last_choice = number
            if number == 0:
                return Action("done", reason="the model chose 0: the goal is already met")
            item = menu.item(number)
            if item is None:                                   # pragma: no cover
                last_error = BrainError(f"the model chose {number}, outside the menu")
                continue
            return Action("click", label=item.label,
                          reason=f"constrained choice {number} of {len(menu)}")

        raise last_error or BrainError("the model produced no constrained choice")

    def _scan_prompt(self, goal: str, label: str) -> str:
        """The prompt for one binary question: does *this* item do the job?

        Short on purpose. Every word a tiny model is given is a word it can copy
        instead of answering, and there is nothing here worth copying back.
        """
        return "\n".join([
            "You are controlling a computer. Answer with one word: yes or no.",
            "",
            f"Goal: {goal}",
            f"Candidate item: {label}",
            "Does clicking this item achieve the goal?",
        ])

    def _decide_by_scanning(self, goal: str, menu: DecisionMenu,
                            observation: Observation) -> Action:
        """Ask one masked yes/no question per menu item, and take the first yes.

        Why this rather than one N-way choice: a 256M model cannot hold twelve
        options in mind, but "does this button do what the goal says?" is a
        question it can answer. Each answer is one token out of two, so the mask
        makes the reply space as small as it can possibly be - and the scan stops
        at the first yes, so it is usually cheaper than it looks.
        """
        if not menu:
            raise GoalUnreachable("no clickable items to choose from")
        tokenizer = self._tokenizer_for_choice()
        yes_ids, no_ids = pair_token_ids(tokenizer)
        if not yes_ids or not no_ids:
            raise BrainError(
                "this tokenizer cannot express yes/no as single tokens, so the scan "
                "cannot be constrained; use decision_mode='json'"
            )
        allowed = sorted(set(yes_ids) | set(no_ids))
        scanned: list[tuple[str, str | None]] = []
        for item in menu:
            self.last_prompt = self._scan_prompt(goal, item.label)
            self.last_reply = self._generate_constrained(
                self.last_prompt, observation, allowed, 1, sample=False)
            verdict = read_verdict(self.last_reply)
            scanned.append((item.label, verdict))
            if verdict is None:
                # a reply that is neither yes nor no means the mask is not being
                # applied; refuse rather than fall through to a guess
                raise BrainError(
                    f"the masked reply to a yes/no question was {self.last_reply[:40]!r}"
                )
            if verdict == "yes":
                return Action("click", label=item.label,
                              reason=f"the model said yes to {item.label!r} "
                                     f"({len(scanned)} of {len(menu)} scanned)")
        self.last_reply = ""
        raise BrainError(
            f"the model said no to all {len(menu)} item(s): "
            f"{[label for label, _ in scanned][:6]}"
        )

    def _decide_by_ranking(self, goal: str, menu: DecisionMenu,
                           observation: Observation) -> Action:
        """Ask every item, then click the one the model liked most.

        ``scan`` stops at the first yes, which quietly rewards position. Here the
        model is asked about every candidate and the winner is the largest
        yes-minus-no log-odds margin - the model's own opinion, read off the
        distribution instead of off a sampled token. Costs N short generations,
        and it is the cheapest way to find out whether the weights can do it at all.
        """
        if not menu:
            raise GoalUnreachable("no clickable items to choose from")
        tokenizer = self._tokenizer_for_choice()
        yes_ids, no_ids = pair_token_ids(tokenizer)
        if not yes_ids or not no_ids:
            raise BrainError(
                "this tokenizer cannot express yes/no as single tokens, so the ranking "
                "cannot be constrained; use decision_mode='json'"
            )
        scored: list[tuple[Any, float]] = []
        for item in menu:
            self.last_prompt = self._scan_prompt(goal, item.label)
            margin = self._score_pair(self.last_prompt, observation, yes_ids, no_ids)
            scored.append((item, margin))
        scored.sort(key=lambda pair: pair[1], reverse=True)
        best, margin = scored[0]
        self.last_reply = f"margin {margin:+.2f}"
        if margin <= 0:
            raise BrainError(
                f"the model preferred no item: best was {best.label!r} at {margin:+.2f}; "
                f"runner-up {scored[1][0].label!r} at {scored[1][1]:+.2f}"
                if len(scored) > 1 else
                f"the model preferred no item (only {best.label!r}, {margin:+.2f})"
            )
        return Action("click", label=best.label,
                      reason=f"highest yes/no margin {margin:+.2f} of {len(scored)} item(s)")

    def _score_pair(self, prompt: str, observation: Observation,
                    yes_ids: Sequence[int], no_ids: Sequence[int]) -> float:
        """How much more likely "yes" is than "no". Backends implement this."""
        raise NotImplementedError("a constrained backend implements _score_pair")

    def _tokenizer_for_choice(self) -> Any:
        """The tokenizer used to build the mask. Subclasses load it lazily."""
        raise NotImplementedError("a constrained backend provides its tokenizer")

    def _generate_constrained(self, prompt: str, observation: Observation,
                              allowed_ids: Sequence[int], max_new_tokens: int,
                              *, sample: bool = False) -> str:
        raise NotImplementedError("a constrained backend implements this")

    @property
    def loaded(self) -> bool:
        """True once the weights are in memory - they load lazily, on the first decide()."""
        return getattr(self, "_model", None) is not None

    def _generate(self, prompt: str, observation: Observation) -> str:
        raise NotImplementedError(
            "subclass ModelBrain and implement _generate(prompt, observation)"
        )