Ask knows what day it is; pin the notebook's re-tag behaviour

codepet/Managers/CompanyStore.swift

@@ -2173,7 +2173,7 @@ final class CompanyStore: ObservableObject {
                                           // What the founder pinned on the `+` menu, rendered above the
                                           // ranker's guesses and excluded from them. Empty for every
                                           // caller that passes nothing.
-                                          pinned: pinned, departmentWork: deskWork),
+                                          pinned: pinned, departmentWork: deskWork, today: Date()),
             history: Array(history), userMessage: text, runnable: Array(runnable),
             openTasks: Array(openTasks), envSetup: envSetup,
             // nil at defaults, so an untouched settings panel adds nothing to the wire

codepet/Models/ChatContext.swift

@@ -142,6 +142,16 @@ enum ChatContext {
     /// Render a compact per-department status snapshot — one line per department that
     /// has at least one task assigned (fully-untouched departments are skipped), mirroring
     /// web's deptSummary (`- name (status, N to do): focus`).
+    /// "Today is 2026-10-09 (October 2026)." — ISO for arithmetic, the month name so "8 months
+    /// from now" lands on a month the model can name without converting.
+    static func composeToday(_ date: Date) -> String {
+        let iso = DateFormatter(), month = DateFormatter()
+        for f in [iso, month] { f.locale = Locale(identifier: "en_US_POSIX"); f.calendar = Calendar(identifier: .gregorian) }
+        iso.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd"
+        month.dateFormat = "LLLL yyyy"
+        return "Today is \(iso.string(from: date)) (\(month.string(from: date))). Count any deadline or runway from this date."
+    }
+
     /// How many of the department's own deliverables the desk excerpts, newest first.
     static let deskWorkCap = 4
     /// How many of the department's own notes (decisions tagged with its `dept`) the desk lists.
@@ -312,8 +322,14 @@ enum ChatContext {
                          product: String? = nil,
                          library: [Deliverable] = [], query: String? = nil,
                          focusDepartment: Department? = nil, memoryEnabled: Bool = true,
-                         pinned: [ContextPin] = [], departmentWork: [Deliverable] = []) -> String {
+                         pinned: [ContextPin] = [], departmentWork: [Deliverable] = [],
+                         today: Date? = nil) -> String {
         var parts: [String] = []
+        // First, so the backend's CONTEXT_CAP clip can never trim it. 9 Oct: told "runway is
+        // 8 months" on 9 Oct 2026, Finance dated the deadline "June 2026" — nothing in the
+        // context said what today was. Here rather than in the cached system prompt, which
+        // must stay identical across days for the prefix cache to hit.
+        if let today { parts.append(composeToday(today)) }
         // Memory off composes nothing from `decisions` — the desk's notes included.
         // `decisions` is already the applicable set (`CompanyStore.applicableDecisions`), so the
         // desk can never show another project's note: it reads only this parameter.

codepetTests/ChatContextDepartmentDeskTests.swift

@@ -130,4 +130,16 @@ final class ChatContextDepartmentDeskTests: XCTestCase {
         let out = ChatContext.compose(brief: brief, tasks: [], decisions: ds, focusDepartment: finance)
         XCTAssertTrue(out.contains("Sales says $29"))
     }
+
+    /// End to end through the merge: once Sales re-records Finance's price, Finance's desk no
+    /// longer lists it and Sales' does.
+    func testAReRecordedTopicMovesDesks() {
+        let fin = Decisions.mergeDecisions(existing: [], extracted: [ExtractedDecision(topic: "pricing", statement: "$19", source: nil)],
+                                           now: 1, dept: "fin")
+        let both = Decisions.mergeDecisions(existing: fin, extracted: [ExtractedDecision(topic: "pricing", statement: "$29", source: nil)],
+                                            now: 2, dept: "sales")
+        XCTAssertEqual(notes(in: ChatContext.compose(brief: brief, tasks: [], decisions: both, focusDepartment: finance)), [])
+        XCTAssertEqual(notes(in: ChatContext.compose(brief: brief, tasks: [], decisions: both, focusDepartment: sales), "Sales"),
+                       ["- pricing: $29"])
+    }
 }

codepetTests/ChatContextTodayTests.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+// codepetTests/ChatContextTodayTests.swift
+import XCTest
+@testable import codepet
+
+/// 9 Oct: told "runway is 8 months" on 9 Oct 2026, Finance put the deadline at "June 2026".
+/// Nothing in the Ask context said what today was, so every date the model computed floated.
+final class ChatContextTodayTests: XCTestCase {
+    private func day(_ y: Int, _ m: Int, _ d: Int) -> Date {
+        var c = DateComponents(); c.year = y; c.month = m; c.day = d; c.hour = 12
+        return Calendar(identifier: .gregorian).date(from: c)!
+    }
+
+    func testTheContextSaysWhatDayItIs() {
+        let out = ChatContext.compose(brief: CompanyBrief(), tasks: [], today: day(2026, 10, 9))
+        XCTAssertTrue(out.contains("Today is 2026-10-09 (October 2026)"), out)
+    }
+
+    /// First, so a clip of the context (CONTEXT_CAP) can never trim it away.
+    func testTheDateLeadsTheContext() {
+        let out = ChatContext.compose(brief: CompanyBrief(projectName: "Codepet"), tasks: [], today: day(2026, 10, 9))
+        XCTAssertTrue(out.hasPrefix("Today is 2026-10-09"))
+    }
+
+    /// Callers that pass no date are unchanged.
+    func testNoDateWhenNoneIsGiven() {
+        XCTAssertFalse(ChatContext.compose(brief: CompanyBrief(), tasks: []).contains("Today is"))
+    }
+}

codepetTests/CompanyStoreChatTests.swift

@@ -492,10 +492,31 @@ final class CompanyStoreChatTests: XCTestCase {
                              chatStreamer: Self.streamer(deltas: ["Noted"], remember: [fact]),
                              decisionsSaver: { _, _ in true })
         await s.hydrate(companyId: "u")
+        // A Finance turn first: the ordinary turn after it must not inherit the department —
+        // and re-recording the same topic without one moves it off Finance's desk.
+        await s.sendChat("ten paying founders is the goal", language: .en, department: DepartmentCatalog.find("fin"))
+        XCTAssertEqual(s.company.decisions.first { $0.topic == "goal" }?.dept, "fin")
         await s.sendChat("ten paying founders is the goal", language: .en)
         XCTAssertNil(s.company.decisions.first { $0.topic == "goal" }?.dept)
     }
 
+    /// The request's context says what day it is — the compose tests alone pass even if the
+    /// store stops passing a date. 9 Oct: Finance dated an 8-month runway "June 2026".
+    func testTheChatRequestCarriesTodaysDate() async {
+        var context = ""
+        let streamer: (CompanyChatRequest) -> AsyncThrowingStream<CompanyChatStreamEvent, Error> = { req in
+            context = req.context
+            return AsyncThrowingStream { c in
+                c.yield(.delta("hi")); c.yield(.done(model: "m", cacheHit: false, action: ChatDoneAction())); c.finish()
+            }
+        }
+        let s = CompanyStore(loader: { _ in .empty }, saver: { _, _ in true },
+                             chatSender: { _ in nil }, chatStreamer: streamer)
+        await s.hydrate(companyId: "u")
+        await s.sendChat("how long is our runway?", language: .en)
+        XCTAssertTrue(context.hasPrefix(ChatContext.composeToday(Date())), context)
+    }
+
     /// `sendChat` populates `env_setup` from the company's currently-OFF toolkit
     /// items (mirrors the web's off-toolkit filter) — AND, since the
     /// environment-honesty pass, only from items that are actually built.

codepetTests/DepartmentNotebookTests.swift

@@ -39,4 +39,13 @@ final class DepartmentNotebookTests: XCTestCase {
         let out = String(data: try JSONEncoder().encode(d), encoding: .utf8)!
         XCTAssertFalse(out.contains("dept"))
     }
+
+    /// A company-wide re-record (a room lock-in, an ordinary turn) takes the topic off the
+    /// department's desk: one truth per topic, and that truth is now nobody's in particular.
+    func testReRecordingWithoutADepartmentClearsTheTag() {
+        let a = Decisions.mergeDecisions(existing: [], extracted: [x("pricing", "$19")], now: 1, dept: "fin")
+        let b = Decisions.mergeDecisions(existing: a, extracted: [x("pricing", "$24")], now: 2)
+        XCTAssertEqual(b.count, 1)
+        XCTAssertNil(b.first?.dept)
+    }
 }