Keep runs with different tuning apart in the report, and raise max_turns to 40

The report grouped runs by model, serving note and task version, so
runs made at different tuning were silently averaged together. Tuning
is now part of the key, and a tuning column shows how a row's settings
differ from today's defaults; it appears only when some row needs it.

tuning.executor.max_turns goes from 24 to 40. On the harder benchmark
tasks Haiku, the calibration ceiling, hit 24 on both refactor-rename
runs and both long-milestone runs, one of which had finished the work.
The cap guards against a model trying forever; it isn't a budget.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/Tuning-Guide.md

@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ a local model can be held to less without affecting the frontier roles.
   executor. Frontier planning wants the large default. Leave this high, and
   set a local model's smaller ceiling as its `max_output_tokens` in LiteLLM.
 
-### `tuning.executor.max_turns` — default 24
+### `tuning.executor.max_turns` — default 40
 
 How many model calls one milestone may make before the executor stops with
 `capped` and asks you what to do.
@@ -146,6 +146,11 @@ How many model calls one milestone may make before the executor stops with
   the cap comfortably above the high end, around 1.5–2× the turns of your
   longer successful runs. A stronger model usually needs fewer turns, not
   more.
+- **Measured:** the default was 24 until the harder benchmark tasks arrived.
+  Haiku, used as the ceiling in calibration, hit 24 on both runs of
+  `refactor-rename` (editing ten files one at a time) and of
+  `long-milestone`, one of which had in fact finished the work. It is a guard
+  against a model trying forever, not a budget, so it was raised to 40.
 
 ### `tuning.executor.failure_limit` — default 2
 

nisse-dev.example.yaml

@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ gitea:                                # B2
 # read at startup, so a change takes effect on the next restart.
 tuning:
   executor:
-    max_turns: 24            # model calls per milestone before it stops as capped
+    max_turns: 40            # model calls per milestone before it stops as capped
     failure_limit: 2         # consecutive failed commands before escalating (A12)
   expert:
     consult_budget: 3        # ask_expert calls per milestone (A14)

nisse-dev/src/nisse_dev/bench/results.py

@@ -10,12 +10,13 @@ import math
 import statistics
 from collections import defaultdict
 from collections.abc import Iterable
-from dataclasses import dataclass
+from dataclasses import asdict, dataclass
 from datetime import UTC, datetime
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any
 
 from nisse_dev.bench.runner import RunRecord
+from nisse_dev.config import Tuning
 
 
 def results_file(directory: Path, model: str, when: datetime | None = None) -> Path:
@@ -64,21 +65,47 @@ class Row:
     cost_per_run: float
     stale: bool
     rate_limited: int = 0  # runs that waited out the proxy's rate limit
+    tuning: str = ""  # how the runs' tuning differs from today's defaults
 
     @property
     def interval(self) -> tuple[float, float]:
         return wilson(self.successes, self.runs)
 
 
+def tuning_label(tuning: dict[str, Any]) -> str:
+    """The settings in a run's tuning that differ from today's defaults, as
+    "executor.max_turns=24"; empty when there are none. Relative to today's
+    defaults so that rows at the current settings stay unlabelled."""
+    defaults = asdict(Tuning())
+    return ", ".join(
+        f"{section}.{key}={value}"
+        for section, values in sorted(tuning.items())
+        for key, value in sorted((values or {}).items())
+        if defaults.get(section, {}).get(key) != value
+    )
+
+
 def summarise(
     records: Iterable[dict[str, Any]], current_hashes: dict[str, str]
 ) -> list[Row]:
-    """One row per (model, how it was served, task, task version)."""
-    groups: dict[tuple[str, str, str, str], list[dict[str, Any]]] = defaultdict(list)
+    """One row per (model, how it was served, task, task version, tuning).
+
+    Tuning is part of the key because a knob changes the result: runs capped
+    at 24 turns and runs allowed 40 are not the same measurement."""
+    groups: dict[tuple[str, str, str, str, str], list[dict[str, Any]]] = defaultdict(
+        list
+    )
     for r in records:
-        groups[(r["backing"], r.get("note", ""), r["task"], r["task_hash"])].append(r)
+        key = (
+            r["backing"],
+            r.get("note", ""),
+            r["task"],
+            r["task_hash"],
+            tuning_label(r.get("tuning", {})),
+        )
+        groups[key].append(r)
     rows = []
-    for (backing, note, task, task_hash), runs in sorted(groups.items()):
+    for (backing, note, task, task_hash, tuning), runs in sorted(groups.items()):
         rows.append(
             Row(
                 model=backing,
@@ -93,22 +120,29 @@ def summarise(
                 cost_per_run=statistics.fmean(r["cost"] for r in runs),
                 stale=current_hashes.get(task) != task_hash,
                 rate_limited=sum(1 for r in runs if r.get("rate_limit_wait_s")),
+                tuning=tuning,
             )
         )
     return rows
 
 
 def render(rows: list[Row]) -> str:
+    # A tuning column only when some rows need one, so a report at today's
+    # settings looks as it always has.
+    tuned = any(row.tuning for row in rows)
     header = (
-        f"{'model':<34} {'note':<22} {'task':<15} {'success':>8} {'95% CI':>11} "
+        f"{'model':<34} {'note':<22} "
+        + (f"{'tuning':<24} " if tuned else "")
+        + f"{'task':<15} {'success':>8} {'95% CI':>11} "
         f"{'turns':>6} {'time':>7} {'$/run':>8} {'429':>4}"
     )
     lines = [header, "-" * len(header)]
     for row in rows:
         low, high = row.interval
         task = row.task + (" (old)" if row.stale else "")
+        tuning = f"{row.tuning[:24]:<24} " if tuned else ""
         lines.append(
-            f"{row.model[:34]:<34} {row.note[:22]:<22} {task[:15]:<15} "
+            f"{row.model[:34]:<34} {row.note[:22]:<22} {tuning}{task[:15]:<15} "
             f"{row.successes:>3}/{row.runs:<4} {low:>4.0%}-{high:<5.0%} "
             f"{row.median_turns:>6.0f} {row.mean_wall_s:>6.0f}s {row.cost_per_run:>8.4f} "
             f"{row.rate_limited or '':>4}"
@@ -119,6 +153,9 @@ def render(rows: list[Row]) -> str:
             "429 = runs that waited out the proxy's rate limit; time leaves the "
             "waits out."
         )
+    if tuned:
+        lines.append("")
+        lines.append("tuning = settings that differ from today's defaults.")
     if any(row.stale for row in rows):
         lines.append("")
         lines.append(

nisse-dev/src/nisse_dev/config.py

@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class ConfigError(RuntimeError):
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
 class ExecutorTuning:
-    max_turns: int = 24
+    max_turns: int = 40
     failure_limit: int = 2
 
 

nisse-dev/tests/test_bench.py

@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ def test_a_solved_task_is_a_success(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     assert record.tokens_in == 3000
     assert record.task_hash == task.content_hash
     assert record.model_info["supports_tool_choice"] is True
-    assert record.tuning["executor"]["max_turns"] == 24
+    assert record.tuning["executor"]["max_turns"] == 40
 
 
 def test_saying_finished_is_not_success(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
@@ -317,3 +317,20 @@ def test_results_stored_before_waits_were_recorded_still_load() -> None:
     del old["rate_limit_wait_s"]
     [row] = summarise([old], current)
     assert (row.mean_wall_s, row.rate_limited) == (12.0, 0)
+
+
+def test_runs_with_different_tuning_are_kept_apart() -> None:
+    current = {t.name: t.content_hash for t in TASKS}
+    capped = record_json()
+    capped["tuning"]["executor"]["max_turns"] = 7
+    rows = summarise([record_json(), capped], current)
+    assert sorted(row.tuning for row in rows) == ["", "executor.max_turns=7"]
+    table = render(rows)
+    assert "executor.max_turns=7" in table
+    assert "tuning = settings that differ" in table
+
+
+def test_a_report_at_default_tuning_has_no_tuning_column() -> None:
+    current = {t.name: t.content_hash for t in TASKS}
+    table = render(summarise([record_json()], current))
+    assert "tuning" not in table

nisse-dev/tests/test_config.py

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ def test_complete_config_builds_with_secrets_by_reference() -> None:
     assert config.matrix.homeserver == "https://matrix.test"
     assert config.gitea_repo == "don/demo"
     assert config.base_branch == "main"
-    assert config.tuning.executor.max_turns == 24  # absent section: defaults
+    assert config.tuning.executor.max_turns == 40  # absent section: defaults
 
 
 def test_paths_expand_the_home_directory() -> None:
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ def test_the_example_file_is_valid() -> None:
         "NISSE_MATRIX_TOKEN": "syt_x",
         "NISSE_GITEA_TOKEN": "gt",
     }
-    assert AgentConfig.from_file(example, env).tuning.executor.max_turns == 24
+    assert AgentConfig.from_file(example, env).tuning.executor.max_turns == 40
 
 
 # --- nothing that carries secrets may sit inside the clone -----------------