fix(goal): drop score gate, bill failed evaluator calls, fix Evaluator SPI + tool prompt + bootstrap cap

mateclaw-server/src/main/java/vip/mate/goal/model/GoalEvaluationResult.java

@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ public record GoalEvaluationResult(
     public static final String DECISION_CONTINUE = "continue";
     public static final String DECISION_FALLBACK = "fallback";
 
-    /** Failure fallback used when the evaluator LLM call errors out.
+    /** Failure fallback for the "no call was made" cases (no goal, empty
-     *  Does NOT charge eval_llm_calls_used. */
+     *  answer, no model). Does NOT charge eval_llm_calls_used. */
     public static GoalEvaluationResult fallback(String reason) {
         return new GoalEvaluationResult(
                 0.0, "evaluator unavailable: " + reason,
@@ -53,6 +53,18 @@ public record GoalEvaluationResult(
                 List.of(), null);
     }
 
+    /** Failure fallback for cases where the evaluator LLM call already
+     *  succeeded but its output was unusable (empty / unparseable). The call
+     *  was really spent, so it charges {@code llmCallsConsumed = 1} and
+     *  records the model + latency for accurate budget accounting. */
+    public static GoalEvaluationResult fallbackAfterCall(String reason, String model, long latencyMs) {
+        return new GoalEvaluationResult(
+                0.0, "evaluator unavailable: " + reason,
+                DECISION_FALLBACK, false,
+                model == null ? "" : model, 1, latencyMs,
+                List.of(), null);
+    }
+
     public Map<String, Object> toMap() {
         Map<String, Object> m = new LinkedHashMap<>();
         m.put("completionScore", score);

mateclaw-server/src/main/java/vip/mate/goal/service/GoalEvaluationService.java

@@ -145,7 +145,8 @@ public class GoalEvaluationService implements Evaluator {
             String body = extractText(response);
             if (body == null || body.isBlank()) {
                 log.warn("[GoalEvaluation] empty response from evaluator model={}", model.getModelName());
-                return GoalEvaluationResult.fallback("empty_response");
+                // The call was really spent — bill it.
+                return GoalEvaluationResult.fallbackAfterCall("empty_response", model.getModelName(), elapsed);
             }
 
             return bootstrap
@@ -162,24 +163,31 @@ public class GoalEvaluationService implements Evaluator {
 
     /**
      * Generic SPI surface: judge whether {@code request.getResponseContent()}
-     * satisfies the objective in {@code request.getUserText()}. Used for
+     * satisfies the objective stated in {@code request.getUserText()}.
-     * standardization/testing; goal-aware callers use the
+     *
-     * {@link #evaluate(GoalEntity, List, String)} overload which carries the
+     * <p>The objective is wrapped as a single checklist criterion so the call
-     * checklist context the request cannot. Detail rides in metadata.
+     * runs in <b>verdict</b> mode (a real pass/fail judgement of the response),
+     * not bootstrap mode. {@code isPass()} is true only when that criterion is
+     * satisfied; detail rides in {@code metadata.criterionVerdicts}.
+     *
+     * <p>Goal-aware callers use the {@link #evaluate(GoalEntity, List, String)}
+     * overload, which carries the full multi-criterion checklist context the
+     * generic request cannot.
      */
     @Override
     public EvaluationResponse evaluate(EvaluationRequest request) {
+        String objective = request.getUserText() != null ? request.getUserText() : "";
         GoalEntity probe = new GoalEntity();
-        probe.setTitle(request.getUserText());
+        probe.setTitle("Does the response satisfy the objective?");
-        probe.setDescription("");
+        probe.setDescription(objective);
+        // One criterion = the objective -> non-empty criteria -> verdict mode.
+        probe.setCriteria(GoalCriteriaCodec.serialize(
+                List.of(new GoalCriterion("C1", objective, false, "")), objectMapper));
+
         GoalEvaluationResult r = evaluate(probe, List.of(), request.getResponseContent());
         Map<String, Object> metadata = new LinkedHashMap<>();
         metadata.put("decision", r.decision());
-        if (r.bootstrapCriteria() != null) {
+        metadata.put("criterionVerdicts", r.criterionVerdicts());
-            metadata.put("bootstrapCriteria", r.bootstrapCriteria());
-        } else {
-            metadata.put("criterionVerdicts", r.criterionVerdicts());
-        }
         return new EvaluationResponse(r.completed(), (float) r.score(),
                 r.gap() == null ? "" : r.gap(), metadata);
     }
@@ -267,16 +275,21 @@ public class GoalEvaluationService implements Evaluator {
         try {
             GoalCriteriaDraft dto = draftConverter.convert(stripFences(body));
             if (dto == null || dto.criteria() == null || dto.criteria().isEmpty()) {
-                return GoalEvaluationResult.fallback("bootstrap_empty");
+                return GoalEvaluationResult.fallbackAfterCall("bootstrap_empty", modelName, latencyMs);
             }
             List<GoalCriterion> normalized = new ArrayList<>();
             for (GoalCriterion c : dto.criteria()) {
                 if (c != null && c.text() != null && !c.text().isBlank()) {
                     normalized.add(new GoalCriterion("", c.text().trim(), false, ""));
                 }
+                // Hard cap regardless of what the model returned — the prompt
+                // asks for <= MAX but a verbose model could exceed it.
+                if (normalized.size() >= MAX_BOOTSTRAP_CRITERIA) {
+                    break;
+                }
             }
             if (normalized.isEmpty()) {
-                return GoalEvaluationResult.fallback("bootstrap_empty");
+                return GoalEvaluationResult.fallbackAfterCall("bootstrap_empty", modelName, latencyMs);
             }
             normalized = GoalCriteriaCodec.reindex(normalized);
             // Bootstrap never judges completion: the checklist is freshly created.
@@ -286,7 +299,7 @@ public class GoalEvaluationService implements Evaluator {
                     List.of(), normalized);
         } catch (Exception e) {
             log.warn("[GoalEvaluation] bootstrap parse failed: {}", e.getMessage());
-            return GoalEvaluationResult.fallback("parse_failed");
+            return GoalEvaluationResult.fallbackAfterCall("parse_failed", modelName, latencyMs);
         }
     }
 
@@ -314,7 +327,7 @@ public class GoalEvaluationService implements Evaluator {
                     deltas, null);
         } catch (Exception e) {
             log.warn("[GoalEvaluation] verdict parse failed: {}", e.getMessage());
-            return GoalEvaluationResult.fallback("parse_failed");
+            return GoalEvaluationResult.fallbackAfterCall("parse_failed", modelName, latencyMs);
         }
     }
 

mateclaw-server/src/main/java/vip/mate/goal/service/GoalFollowupService.java

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public class GoalFollowupService {
      *   <li>{@code allow-auto-followup} runtime hard gate (operator kill
      *       switch; overrides per-goal flag).</li>
      *   <li>Per-goal {@code autoFollowupEnabled}.</li>
-     *   <li>Evaluator decision is "continue" with score &lt; 0.95.</li>
+     *   <li>Evaluator decision is "continue" (not all criteria passed).</li>
      *   <li>Cooldown since the last follow-up has elapsed.</li>
      *   <li>turn_budget has at least one slot left after this turn.</li>
      *   <li>(agent + eval) LLM calls below 90% of llm_call_budget.</li>
@@ -49,10 +49,13 @@ public class GoalFollowupService {
         // Runtime hard gate first — overrides any per-goal flag.
         if (!properties.isAllowAutoFollowup()) return Optional.empty();
         if (!Boolean.TRUE.equals(goal.getAutoFollowupEnabled())) return Optional.empty();
+        // Completion is deterministic now: the evaluator sets decision=completed
+        // only when every checklist criterion passed. Anything still "continue"
+        // has remaining work regardless of the numeric score, so there is no
+        // score threshold here — a 20/21 goal (score 0.95) must still follow up.
         if (!GoalEvaluationResult.DECISION_CONTINUE.equals(result.decision())) {
             return Optional.empty();
         }
-        if (result.score() >= 0.95) return Optional.empty();
 
         // Cooldown — last_followup_at recorded by recordFollowupInjected().
         Integer cooldownSec = goal.getFollowupCooldownSeconds();

mateclaw-server/src/main/java/vip/mate/tool/builtin/GoalManagementTool.java

@@ -146,10 +146,14 @@ public class GoalManagementTool {
     }
 
     @Tool(description = """
-            Explicitly mark the active goal as completed. Use ONLY when all \
+            Explicitly mark the active goal as completed. Use ONLY when EVERY \
-            exit criteria are satisfied (e.g. tests passed, feature deployed, \
+            checklist criterion is genuinely satisfied with concrete evidence \
-            user confirmed). The runtime evaluator will also mark goals \
+            in the conversation (e.g. tests actually passed, feature actually \
-            completed automatically when score >= 0.95 — prefer that path.""")
+            deployed, user confirmed). Do NOT call this to close out work that \
+            is unfinished, blocked, or impossible. In normal operation you do \
+            not need this tool at all: the runtime evaluator marks the goal \
+            completed automatically once all checklist criteria pass — prefer \
+            that path and just keep working.""")
     public String completeGoal(@Nullable ToolContext ctx) {
         if (!properties.isEnabled()) return errorJson("Goal subsystem is disabled");
         GoalEntity goal = resolveActive(ctx);

mateclaw-server/src/test/java/vip/mate/goal/service/GoalEvaluationServiceTest.java

@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ import org.springframework.ai.chat.model.ChatModel;
 import org.springframework.ai.chat.model.ChatResponse;
 import org.springframework.ai.chat.model.Generation;
 import org.springframework.ai.chat.prompt.Prompt;
+import org.springframework.ai.evaluation.EvaluationRequest;
+import org.springframework.ai.evaluation.EvaluationResponse;
 import org.springframework.retry.support.RetryTemplate;
 import vip.mate.goal.config.GoalProperties;
 import vip.mate.goal.model.GoalEntity;
@@ -188,7 +190,8 @@ class GoalEvaluationServiceTest {
         stubChatResponse("I think it's about 60% done.");
         GoalEvaluationResult r = svc.evaluate(goal(), List.of(), "x");
         assertEquals(GoalEvaluationResult.DECISION_FALLBACK, r.decision());
-        assertEquals(0, r.llmCallsConsumed());
+        // The call was made and returned garbage — it still spends one call.
+        assertEquals(1, r.llmCallsConsumed());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -249,4 +252,54 @@ class GoalEvaluationServiceTest {
         assertFalse(r.completed());
         assertTrue(r.gap().contains("evaluator unavailable"));
     }
+
+    // ==================== Post-call billing (failed output still spends a call) ====================
+
+    @Test
+    void emptyResponseAfterCall_billsOneLlmCall() {
+        stubChatResponse("   ");
+        GoalEvaluationResult r = svc.evaluate(goal(), List.of(), "x");
+        assertEquals(GoalEvaluationResult.DECISION_FALLBACK, r.decision());
+        assertEquals(1, r.llmCallsConsumed(), "a spent-but-empty evaluator call must charge 1");
+        assertEquals("qwen-turbo", r.evaluatorModel());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void parseFailureAfterCall_billsOneLlmCall() {
+        stubChatResponse("{\"criteria\": }");  // malformed -> parse fail (call already spent)
+        GoalEvaluationResult r = svc.evaluate(goal(), List.of(), "x");
+        assertEquals(GoalEvaluationResult.DECISION_FALLBACK, r.decision());
+        assertEquals(1, r.llmCallsConsumed());
+    }
+
+    // ==================== Bootstrap criteria cap ====================
+
+    @Test
+    void bootstrap_capsCriteriaAtMax() {
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("{\"criteria\":[");
+        for (int i = 0; i < 12; i++) {
+            if (i > 0) sb.append(',');
+            sb.append("{\"text\":\"criterion ").append(i).append("\"}");
+        }
+        sb.append("]}");
+        stubChatResponse(sb.toString());
+        GoalEvaluationResult r = svc.evaluate(goal(), List.of(), "x");
+        assertNotNull(r.bootstrapCriteria());
+        assertTrue(r.bootstrapCriteria().size() <= 8,
+                "bootstrap must cap criteria at MAX_BOOTSTRAP_CRITERIA; got " + r.bootstrapCriteria().size());
+    }
+
+    // ==================== Evaluator SPI ====================
+
+    @Test
+    void evaluatorSpi_judgesResponseInVerdictMode() {
+        // The objective is wrapped as criterion C1; a verdict JSON marking C1
+        // passed must surface as isPass()=true with score 1.0 — NOT a bootstrap.
+        stubChatResponse("{\"criterionVerdicts\":[{\"id\":\"C1\",\"passed\":true,\"evidence\":\"matches\"}],\"summary\":\"ok\"}");
+        EvaluationResponse resp = svc.evaluate(
+                new EvaluationRequest("Return a greeting", "Hello, world!"));
+        assertTrue(resp.isPass());
+        assertEquals(1.0f, resp.getScore(), 1e-6);
+        assertTrue(resp.getMetadata().containsKey("criterionVerdicts"));
+    }
 }

mateclaw-server/src/test/java/vip/mate/goal/service/GoalFollowupServiceTest.java

@@ -75,11 +75,14 @@ class GoalFollowupServiceTest {
     }
 
     @Test
-    void highScore_returnsEmpty() {
+    void highScoreButStillContinue_followsUp() {
+        // No score gate: completion is decided by decision==completed, not a
+        // numeric threshold. A 20/21 goal (score ~0.95) that is still "continue"
+        // has remaining criteria and MUST follow up.
         Optional<String> out = svc.maybeBuildFollowup(
                 goal(true),
                 res(0.96, GoalEvaluationResult.DECISION_CONTINUE));
-        assertTrue(out.isEmpty());
+        assertTrue(out.isPresent());
     }
 
     @Test

mateclaw-ui/src/api/index.ts

@@ -1316,8 +1316,8 @@ export interface Goal {
   lastFollowupAt?: string | null
   createTime: string
   updateTime: string
-  /** Parsed checklist; always an array on the wire (empty when none). */
+  /** Parsed checklist; the backend always sends an array (empty when none). */
-  criteria?: GoalCriterion[]
+  criteria: GoalCriterion[]
 }
 
 export interface GoalEvent {

mateclaw-ui/src/i18n/locales/en-US.ts

@@ -3842,6 +3842,7 @@ export default {
     inlinePromptAccept: 'Yes',
     inlinePromptDecline: 'No thanks',
     autoFollowup: 'Auto continuation',
+    sidebarActive: 'This conversation has an active goal',
     completedTitle: 'Goal completed',
     completedDetail: 'Stored in long-term memory; askable later',
     exhaustedTitle: 'Budget exhausted',

mateclaw-ui/src/i18n/locales/zh-CN.ts

@@ -3934,6 +3934,7 @@ export default {
     inlinePromptAccept: '好',
     inlinePromptDecline: '不用',
     autoFollowup: '自动延续',
+    sidebarActive: '此对话有正在进行的目标',
     completedTitle: '目标达成',
     completedDetail: '已存入长期记忆，下次问起能找回来',
     exhaustedTitle: '这次的预算用完了',