From fb09b4666ea20937ff76b441d70f11bd685691d5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: James Eversole <james@eversole.co>
Date: Tue, 5 May 2026 19:16:16 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Seeded root leaf prep for wire

---
 AGENTS.md           |  8 ++------
 src/ContentStore.hs | 18 ++++++++++--------
 2 files changed, 12 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)

diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 578b11c..f29a66a 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -84,13 +84,9 @@ nix flake check   # or: nix build .#test
 | `elimLambdaSingle` | Lambda elimination: eta reduction, SDef binding, semantics preservation |
 | `stressElimLambda` | Lambda elimination stress test: 200 vars, 800-body curried lambda |
 
-### Adding tests
+### Suggesting tests
 
-1. Append a `testCase "Description" $ do ...` block to the appropriate test group in `test/Spec.hs`.
-2. Import any modules you need (lexer/parser are available via `runParser` from `Text.Megapparsec`; evaluation via `evalTricu`, `parseTricu`, `result`).
-3. Run `nix flake check` to verify.
-
-> The test-suite in `tricu.cabal` pulls in `src/` as `hs-source-dirs`, so tests import modules directly (e.g., `import Eval`, `import Lexer`). This is intentional — tests exercise the full pipeline end-to-end.
+You do not write or modify tests. The user writes tests to constrain your outputs. You must adhere your code to tests or suggest modifications to tests.
 
 ## 4. tricu Language Quick Reference
 
diff --git a/src/ContentStore.hs b/src/ContentStore.hs
index fd0065c..81e779e 100644
--- a/src/ContentStore.hs
+++ b/src/ContentStore.hs
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ initContentStore = do
   execute_ conn "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS merkle_nodes (\
                 \hash TEXT PRIMARY KEY, \
                 \node_data BLOB NOT NULL)"
+  -- Seed canonical Leaf node payload (0x00)
+  putMerkleNode conn NLeaf
   return   conn
 
 getContentStorePath :: IO FilePath
@@ -95,13 +97,11 @@ storeTerm conn newNamesStrList term = do
 -- | Reconstruct a Tree Calculus term from its Merkle root hash.
 --   Recursively loads nodes and rebuilds the T structure.
 loadTree :: Connection -> MerkleHash -> IO (Maybe T)
-loadTree conn h
-  | h == nodeHash NLeaf = return (Just Leaf)  -- NLeaf is implicit, not stored
-  | otherwise = do
-      maybeNode <- getNodeMerkle conn h
-      case maybeNode of
-        Nothing -> return Nothing
-        Just node -> Just <$> buildTree node
+loadTree conn h = do
+  maybeNode <- getNodeMerkle conn h
+  case maybeNode of
+    Nothing -> return Nothing
+    Just node -> Just <$> buildTree node
   where
     buildTree :: Node -> IO T
     buildTree NLeaf = return Leaf
@@ -116,7 +116,9 @@ loadTree conn h
 -- | Store all nodes of a Merkle DAG by traversing the Term and building/storing nodes.
 --   Returns the hash of the root node.
 storeMerkleNodes :: Connection -> T -> IO MerkleHash
-storeMerkleNodes _ Leaf = return $ nodeHash NLeaf
+storeMerkleNodes conn Leaf = do
+  putMerkleNode conn NLeaf
+  return $ nodeHash NLeaf
 storeMerkleNodes conn (Stem t) = do
   childHash <- storeMerkleNodes conn t
   let thisNode = NStem childHash