From 4f457ec2dbbecf0c076ffbd90eefc82a51d647e1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sam Valladares <samvalladares21@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 1 May 2026 04:55:54 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] Make Sanhedrin optional in v2.1.0

---
 CHANGELOG.md                           |  29 ++++--
 docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md             |  65 ++++++++----
 hooks/sanhedrin-local.py               |  22 +++--
 hooks/sanhedrin.sh                     |  50 ++++++----
 hooks/settings.fragment.json           |   1 -
 hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json |  23 +++++
 scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh      | 124 ++++++++++++++++-------
 scripts/install-sandwich.sh            | 132 ++++++++++++++++++-------
 8 files changed, 315 insertions(+), 131 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7d06f1a..33145d6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,13 +7,15 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [2.1.0] - 2026-04-27 — "Cognitive Sandwich Goes Local"
 
-The Sanhedrin Executioner — Vestige's veto layer for Claude Code responses — now runs entirely on a local MLX model (`mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit`). Zero API cost per Claude turn, fully offline, no Anthropic round-trip on the critical path. Combined with four pre-cognitive UserPromptSubmit hooks (synthesis-preflight, cwd-state-injector, vestige-pulse-daemon, preflight-swarm), Vestige now ships a complete "Cognitive Sandwich" — Vestige memories injected before the model thinks, local Sanhedrin veto after the model speaks — installable in one command on a MacBook.
+The Sanhedrin Executioner — Vestige's veto layer for Claude Code responses — can run against a local MLX model (`mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit`) when explicitly enabled. Combined with four pre-cognitive UserPromptSubmit hooks (synthesis-preflight, cwd-state-injector, vestige-pulse-daemon, preflight-swarm), Vestige now ships a complete "Cognitive Sandwich" — Vestige memories injected before the model thinks, optional Sanhedrin veto after the model speaks.
+
+> 2026-05-01 hotfix: Sanhedrin is optional by default. The default installer no longer wires the Sanhedrin Stop hook, no longer starts MLX, and removes the old v2.1.0 MLX launchd job on reinstall. Users who want Sanhedrin can opt in with `--enable-sanhedrin`; Apple Silicon local MLX autostart is a separate `--with-launchd` flag, and x86 users can point `--sanhedrin-endpoint` at any OpenAI-compatible `/v1/chat/completions` endpoint.
 
 ### Added
 
 - **`hooks/`** — first-class harness-side companion to the Vestige MCP server. 9 production hooks designed for `~/.claude/hooks/`:
-  - `sanhedrin.sh` — Stop hook that invokes the local Qwen Executioner via the Python bridge.
-  - `sanhedrin-local.py` — local backend that POSTs to `mlx_lm.server` (`localhost:8080`) with Vestige evidence injected via the dashboard `/api/deep_reference` HTTP endpoint. TRUST_FLOOR=0.55 evidence filter + topical-relevance gate + inference-verb ban + 8 worked few-shots covering true positives AND false-positive guards.
+  - `sanhedrin.sh` — optional Stop hook that invokes the Sanhedrin Executioner via the Python bridge only when `VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENABLED=1`.
+  - `sanhedrin-local.py` — OpenAI-compatible backend that POSTs to the configured Sanhedrin endpoint with Vestige evidence injected via the dashboard `/api/deep_reference` HTTP endpoint. TRUST_FLOOR=0.55 evidence filter + topical-relevance gate + inference-verb ban + 8 worked few-shots covering true positives AND false-positive guards.
   - `synthesis-preflight.sh` — UserPromptSubmit hook that POSTs the user prompt to `/api/deep_reference` and injects the trust-scored reasoning chain into context.
   - `cwd-state-injector.sh` — captures git status, branch, modified files, open PRs/issues.
   - `vestige-pulse-daemon.sh` — surfaces fresh Vestige dream insights from the past 20 min.
@@ -21,18 +23,20 @@ The Sanhedrin Executioner — Vestige's veto layer for Claude Code responses —
   - `synthesis-stop-validator.sh` — Stop hook regex against forbidden hedging patterns.
   - `veto-detector.sh` — fast 50ms regex pre-screen against `veto`-tagged Vestige memories.
   - `synthesis-gate.sh` — legacy v1 trigger (kept for backward compat).
-  - `settings.fragment.json` — JSON snippet merged into `~/.claude/settings.json` by the installer.
+  - `settings.fragment.json` — lightweight JSON snippet merged into `~/.claude/settings.json` by the default installer.
+  - `settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json` — opt-in JSON snippet used only with `--enable-sanhedrin`.
 - **Dashboard `/api/changelog` endpoint** — bounded REST event feed for recent `DreamCompleted` and `ConnectionDiscovered` events, used by the Pulse hook to inject fresh synthesis into Claude Code context.
 - **`agents/`** — `executioner.md` (legacy/fallback Haiku 4.5 path), `lateral-thinker.md`, `synthesis-composer.md`.
-- **`launchd/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist.template`** — auto-start `mlx_lm.server` with the Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit model on login. Templated with `__HOME__` and `__MODEL__` placeholders.
-- **`scripts/install-sandwich.sh`** — one-command installer that stages hooks, agents, plist, jq-merges the settings fragment, and `launchctl load`s the plist. Backs up `settings.json` to `.bak.pre-sandwich`. Supports `--force`, `--no-launchd`, `--include-memory-loader`, `--src=PATH`.
-- **`scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh`** — comprehensive prereq verifier (Apple Silicon, Python 3.10+, jq, uv, mlx-lm, hf, claude, vestige-mcp, model on disk, MCP HTTP up, server up, plist installed, settings wired).
+- **`launchd/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist.template`** — optional Apple Silicon helper that auto-starts `mlx_lm.server` with the Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit model on login. Templated with `__HOME__` and `__MODEL__` placeholders.
+- **`scripts/install-sandwich.sh`** — one-command installer that stages hooks, agents, jq-merges the settings fragment, and backs up `settings.json` to `.bak.pre-sandwich`. Supports `--force`, `--enable-sanhedrin`, `--with-launchd`, `--sanhedrin-endpoint`, `--sanhedrin-model`, `--include-memory-loader`, `--src=PATH`.
+- **`scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh`** — prereq verifier for lightweight hooks by default, with `--sanhedrin` for the optional endpoint / MLX checks.
 - **`docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md`** — architecture diagram, install guide, performance notes (82 tok/s on M3 Max), uninstall, configuration env vars.
 - **PR #48** — `VESTIGE_DATA_DIR` env-var support + tilde expansion + secure unix perms (thanks @Jelloeater) — directly addresses the ghost env-vars exposed by v2.0.9 cleanup.
 
 ### Changed
 
-- **Sanhedrin Executioner default backend swapped from Anthropic Haiku 4.5 → local `mlx_lm.server` + Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit.** Anthropic API key no longer required for the post-cognitive layer. The `executioner.md` agent definition is retained as manual/fallback only when invoked explicitly via `Task(subagent_type='executioner')`.
+- **Sanhedrin is optional by default.** Default installs run on x86 and low-memory machines without downloading or starting the 19 GB MLX model. Reinstalling the default v2.1.0 hotfix removes the old mandatory `com.vestige.mlx-server` launchd job if it exists.
+- **Sanhedrin Executioner backend swapped from Anthropic Haiku 4.5 → OpenAI-compatible endpoint, with local `mlx_lm.server` + Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit as the Apple Silicon opt-in path.** Anthropic API key no longer required for the post-cognitive layer. The `executioner.md` agent definition is retained as manual/fallback only when invoked explicitly via `Task(subagent_type='executioner')`.
 - **All hooks sanitized for public release** — replaced hardcoded personal absolute paths with `$HOME` / `$VESTIGE_*` env vars; removed personal regex tokens.
 - **NPM binary installer now follows package version** — `vestige-mcp-server@2.1.0` downloads release assets from `v2.1.0` instead of a stale hardcoded binary tag, while local workspace installs skip the release-asset download before the tag exists.
 
@@ -41,6 +45,7 @@ The Sanhedrin Executioner — Vestige's veto layer for Claude Code responses —
 - `cargo test --workspace --release --no-fail-fast`: **1,229 passing, 0 failed** (366 vestige-core + 358 vestige-mcp lib + 4 vestige-mcp bin + 497 e2e + 4 doctests).
 - Sanhedrin bridge smoke checks: Python bytecode compilation passes, fail-open bridge invocation returns `yes`, and public hook settings validate as JSON.
 - 8-day Sandwich dogfood: **84% pass rate, 16% legitimate vetoes** caught real hallucinations.
+- 2026-05-01 hotfix checks: `cargo test --workspace --no-fail-fast`, `cargo build --release --workspace`, shell/Python/JSON validation, and default/opt-in installer dry-runs all pass.
 
 ### Closes
 
@@ -48,8 +53,14 @@ The Sanhedrin Executioner — Vestige's veto layer for Claude Code responses —
 
 ### Prerequisites for the Cognitive Sandwich
 
-- macOS Apple Silicon (M1+) — required for MLX
 - Python 3.10+
+- `jq`
+- `vestige-mcp`
+- Claude Code
+
+Optional local MLX Sanhedrin backend:
+
+- macOS Apple Silicon (M1+) — required for the launchd MLX helper only
 - ~22 GB free RAM (Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit at runtime)
 - First-run model download: ~19 GB from Hugging Face (cached locally thereafter)
 
diff --git a/docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md b/docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md
index f7a4eee..9463627 100644
--- a/docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md
+++ b/docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md
@@ -17,12 +17,12 @@ The Cognitive Sandwich wraps every Claude Code response in two layers of cogniti
 ├────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
 │  🥪 BOTTOM BREAD — Stop hooks                   │
 │   • Veto-detector (fast 50ms regex pre-screen)  │
-│   • Sanhedrin Executioner (LOCAL Qwen3.6-35B)   │
+│   • Sanhedrin Executioner (optional verifier)   │
 │   • Synthesis stop validator (hedge detector)   │
 └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
 ```
 
-The Sanhedrin Executioner is the headline of v2.1.0. As of v2.1.0 it runs entirely on a local MLX model (`mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit`), replacing the v2.0.x Haiku 4.5 subagent. **Zero API cost per Claude turn, fully offline, ~5–15s verdict latency on M-series Apple Silicon.**
+Sanhedrin is optional. The default installer wires the lightweight preflight and stop hooks only; it does not start MLX, require a 19 GB model download, or require 20+ GB of RAM. Users who want the post-response semantic verifier can opt in and point it at any OpenAI-compatible `/v1/chat/completions` endpoint. On Apple Silicon, an additional `--with-launchd` flag can auto-start the local MLX Qwen backend.
 
 ---
 
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ The Sanhedrin Executioner is the headline of v2.1.0. As of v2.1.0 it runs entire
 3. **Claude reads the assembled context and generates a draft.**
 4. **Stop hooks fire serially** (any can VETO with `exit 2`, forcing a rewrite):
    - `veto-detector.sh` — fast regex against `veto`-tagged Vestige memories (~50ms)
-   - `sanhedrin.sh` → `sanhedrin-local.py` — single-shot local Qwen3.6-35B-A3B verdict
+   - `sanhedrin.sh` → `sanhedrin-local.py` — optional single-shot semantic verdict
    - `synthesis-stop-validator.sh` — regex against forbidden patterns (hedging, summary-instead-of-composition)
-5. **If all 3 Stop hooks return `exit 0`, the response is delivered.**
+5. **If all enabled Stop hooks return `exit 0`, the response is delivered.**
 
 ---
 
@@ -85,27 +85,50 @@ cd vestige
 ./scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh     # verify everything's wired
 ```
 
+### Optional Sanhedrin
+
+Sanhedrin is a separate opt-in layer.
+
+```bash
+# Wire the Sanhedrin Stop hook, using the default OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
+./scripts/install-sandwich.sh --enable-sanhedrin
+
+# Apple Silicon only, and only if the machine has enough memory:
+./scripts/install-sandwich.sh --enable-sanhedrin --with-launchd
+
+# x86 / Linux / Intel Mac: use any OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
+./scripts/install-sandwich.sh \
+  --enable-sanhedrin \
+  --sanhedrin-endpoint=http://127.0.0.1:11434/v1/chat/completions \
+  --sanhedrin-model=qwen2.5:14b
+```
+
 ### Prerequisites
 
 | Tool | Install |
 |---|---|
-| macOS Apple Silicon (M1+) | required for MLX |
 | Python 3.10+ | typically preinstalled |
 | `jq` | `brew install jq` |
+| `vestige-mcp` | `cargo install vestige-mcp` |
+| Claude Code | https://claude.ai/code |
+
+Optional Apple Silicon local Sanhedrin backend:
+
+| Tool | Install |
+|---|---|
+| macOS Apple Silicon (M1+) | required for MLX launchd only |
 | `uv` | `brew install uv` |
 | `mlx-lm` | `uv tool install mlx-lm` |
 | `huggingface_hub[cli]` | `uv tool install 'huggingface_hub[cli]'` |
-| `vestige-mcp` | `cargo install vestige-mcp` |
-| Claude Code | https://claude.ai/code |
 | Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit | `hf download mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit` (~19 GB) |
 
 ### What the installer does
 
 1. Verifies prereqs (warnings for missing tools, fatal only on jq/python3).
 2. Copies hooks to `~/.claude/hooks/`, agents to `~/.claude/agents/`.
-3. Renders `launchd/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist.template` with your `$HOME` and chosen model, writes to `~/Library/LaunchAgents/`.
-4. `launchctl load` the plist (auto-start mlx_lm.server with the Qwen model on boot).
-5. Backs up existing `~/.claude/settings.json` to `.bak.pre-sandwich`, then `jq`-merges the hooks block.
+3. Backs up existing `~/.claude/settings.json` to `.bak.pre-sandwich`, then `jq`-merges the lightweight hooks block.
+4. With `--enable-sanhedrin`, writes `~/.claude/hooks/vestige-sanhedrin.env` and merges a Sanhedrin-enabled hooks block.
+5. With `--enable-sanhedrin --with-launchd` on Apple Silicon, renders and loads `launchd/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist.template`.
 
 ### Uninstall
 
@@ -120,7 +143,7 @@ cp ~/.claude/settings.json.bak.pre-sandwich ~/.claude/settings.json
 
 ## Performance notes
 
-On M3 Max 16-core (400 GB/s memory bandwidth):
+Optional local MLX backend on M3 Max 16-core (400 GB/s memory bandwidth):
 - Sanhedrin verdict: 5–15 seconds end-to-end (single deep_reference + single Qwen call)
 - mlx_lm.server token generation: ~82 tok/s
 - mlx_lm.server peak resident memory: ~19.7 GB
@@ -134,11 +157,12 @@ On M3 Max 14-core or M2/M1 Max: closer to 3–7s prompt processing, ~50–60 tok
 
 | Env var | Default | Effect |
 |---|---|---|
-| `VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENABLED` | `1` | Set to `0` to disable Sanhedrin Stop hook entirely |
+| `VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENABLED` | `0` | Set to `1` to enable the optional Sanhedrin Stop hook |
 | `VESTIGE_SWARM_ENABLED` | `1` | Set to `0` to disable preflight lateral-thinker swarm |
 | `VESTIGE_DASHBOARD_PORT` | `3927` | Vestige MCP HTTP API port used by hooks |
-| `MLX_ENDPOINT` | `http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/chat/completions` | OpenAI-compatible chat completions endpoint for Sanhedrin |
-| `VESTIGE_SANDWICH_MODEL` | `mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit` | Model launchd serves and Sanhedrin requests |
+| `VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT` | `http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/chat/completions` | OpenAI-compatible chat completions endpoint for Sanhedrin |
+| `VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_MODEL` | `mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit` | Model name sent to the Sanhedrin endpoint |
+| `MLX_ENDPOINT` / `VESTIGE_SANDWICH_MODEL` | legacy aliases | Backward-compatible names still read by the bridge |
 | `VESTIGE_MEMORY_DIR` | (auto) | Override per-user Claude memory dir |
 
 ---
@@ -151,11 +175,12 @@ Full architecture memory: search Vestige for `god-tier-plan` or `cognitive-sandw
 
 ---
 
-## Linux / Intel Mac
+## Linux / Intel Mac / x86
 
-The launchd layer is macOS-arm64-only. On Linux or Intel Mac:
-- Hooks + agents install fine with `--no-launchd`
-- The Sanhedrin Stop hook will fail-open (mlx-server unreachable → exit 0)
-- Optional: run a remote mlx_lm.server / vLLM / Ollama OpenAI-compatible endpoint and set `MLX_ENDPOINT` to its `/v1/chat/completions` URL
+The base hook harness runs on x86. The launchd MLX helper is macOS-arm64-only.
 
-Future v2.2.0 will add Linux-native MLX equivalents.
+On Linux, Windows under WSL, or Intel Mac:
+- Run `scripts/install-sandwich.sh` normally for lightweight hooks.
+- If you want Sanhedrin, run an OpenAI-compatible endpoint such as vLLM, Ollama, llama.cpp server, or a remote MLX/vLLM box.
+- Install with `--enable-sanhedrin --sanhedrin-endpoint=<url> --sanhedrin-model=<model>`.
+- If the endpoint is unreachable, Sanhedrin fails open and does not block Claude Code.
diff --git a/hooks/sanhedrin-local.py b/hooks/sanhedrin-local.py
index 00eb29b..677ba60 100755
--- a/hooks/sanhedrin-local.py
+++ b/hooks/sanhedrin-local.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# sanhedrin-local.py — Local Qwen3.6-35B-A3B Sanhedrin Executioner.
+# sanhedrin-local.py — OpenAI-compatible Sanhedrin Executioner bridge.
 # Drop-in replacement for the Haiku 4.5 subagent that sanhedrin.sh used to spawn.
 #
 # Reads draft from stdin, prints single-line verdict to stdout:
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@
 #
 # Architecture:
 #   stdin (draft) -> Vestige /api/deep_reference (single semantic query)
-#                 -> mlx_lm.server localhost:8080 (one-shot judgment)
+#                 -> OpenAI-compatible chat endpoint (one-shot judgment)
 #                 -> stdout (single-line verdict)
 #
-# Fail-open: if mlx-server unreachable, print "yes" and exit 0 (don't break
+# Fail-open: if the endpoint is unreachable, print "yes" and exit 0 (don't break
 # the Cognitive Sandwich on infra errors). The wrapping sanhedrin.sh maps
 # "yes" to exit 0, so this preserves existing fail-open semantics.
 
@@ -35,7 +35,11 @@ VESTIGE_BASE_URL = (
     os.environ.get("VESTIGE_BASE_URL") or f"http://127.0.0.1:{DASHBOARD_PORT}"
 ).rstrip("/")
 
-MLX_ENDPOINT = os.environ.get("MLX_ENDPOINT") or "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/chat/completions"
+SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT = (
+    os.environ.get("VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT")
+    or os.environ.get("MLX_ENDPOINT")
+    or "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/chat/completions"
+)
 VESTIGE_ENDPOINT = (
     os.environ.get("VESTIGE_DEEP_REFERENCE_ENDPOINT")
     or f"{VESTIGE_BASE_URL}/api/deep_reference"
@@ -43,8 +47,12 @@ VESTIGE_ENDPOINT = (
 VESTIGE_HEALTH = (
     os.environ.get("VESTIGE_HEALTH_ENDPOINT") or f"{VESTIGE_BASE_URL}/api/health"
 )
-MODEL = os.environ.get("VESTIGE_SANDWICH_MODEL") or "mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit"
-MLX_TIMEOUT = env_int("MLX_TIMEOUT", 45)
+MODEL = (
+    os.environ.get("VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_MODEL")
+    or os.environ.get("VESTIGE_SANDWICH_MODEL")
+    or "mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit"
+)
+SANHEDRIN_TIMEOUT = env_int("VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_TIMEOUT", env_int("MLX_TIMEOUT", 45))
 VESTIGE_TIMEOUT = env_int("VESTIGE_TIMEOUT", 5)
 THINK_RE = re.compile(r"<think>.*?</think>", re.DOTALL | re.IGNORECASE)
 
@@ -289,7 +297,7 @@ def judge(draft: str, evidence: str) -> str:
             "\n\nOn second thought", "\n\nOh wait",
         ],
     }
-    resp = post_json(MLX_ENDPOINT, body, MLX_TIMEOUT)
+    resp = post_json(SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT, body, SANHEDRIN_TIMEOUT)
     if not isinstance(resp, dict):
         return ""
     try:
diff --git a/hooks/sanhedrin.sh b/hooks/sanhedrin.sh
index 39a2131..a875f1f 100755
--- a/hooks/sanhedrin.sh
+++ b/hooks/sanhedrin.sh
@@ -17,25 +17,37 @@
 #   sanhedrin.sh (2-8s Haiku subagent, may block) →
 #   synthesis-stop-validator.sh (existing regex hedge check, may block)
 #
-# Opt-in: set VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENABLED=1 in parent shell.
+# Opt-in: set VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENABLED=1 in parent shell, or install with
+# scripts/install-sandwich.sh --enable-sanhedrin.
 # Re-entrancy lock: VESTIGE_EXECUTIONER_ACTIVE=1 inside the subagent.
 #
 # Ship date 2026-04-20.
 
 set -u
 
-# === OPT-OUT GATE ===
-# Post-Cognitive Sanhedrin is ON by default as of 2026-04-21 (birthday
-# launch day). To disable, set VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENABLED=0 in your
-# environment. Default-on guarantees the Cognitive Sandwich fires on
-# fresh machines, Docker containers, GUI-launched Claude Code, and
-# shells without .zshrc — any case where the Claude Code process lacks
-# a sourced profile. The re-entrancy guard (VESTIGE_EXECUTIONER_ACTIVE)
-# below still prevents fork-bombs from the subagent's own Stop hook.
-if [ "${VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENABLED:-1}" = "0" ]; then
-  exit 0
+# === OPT-IN GATE ===
+# Sanhedrin is heavyweight: the default local backend is a ~19 GB model and
+# needs roughly 20+ GB of free RAM. Keep it disabled unless the user explicitly
+# opts in. The installer writes this env file only for --enable-sanhedrin.
+SANHEDRIN_ENV="${VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENV:-$HOME/.claude/hooks/vestige-sanhedrin.env}"
+if [ -f "$SANHEDRIN_ENV" ]; then
+  set +u
+  set -a
+  # shellcheck disable=SC1090
+  . "$SANHEDRIN_ENV" 2>/dev/null || {
+    set +a
+    set -u
+    exit 0
+  }
+  set +a
+  set -u
 fi
 
+case "${VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENABLED:-0}" in
+  1|true|TRUE|yes|YES|on|ON) ;;
+  *) exit 0 ;;
+esac
+
 # === RE-ENTRANCY GUARD ===
 # The Executioner's own Stop hook will fire when it returns — prevent
 # recursive spawns that would fork-bomb the quota.
@@ -114,11 +126,11 @@ if [ -z "$DRAFT" ]; then
 fi
 
 # === VERIFY local executioner bridge available ===
-# 2026-04-25: switched from Haiku 4.5 subagent to local Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
-# via mlx_lm.server (launchd com.vestige.mlx-server). Bridge script
-# fetches Vestige evidence via HTTP API (VESTIGE_DASHBOARD_PORT, default 3927)
-# then judges via MLX_ENDPOINT (default port 8080). Zero per-token cost, fully offline,
-# sub-second-to-15s verdict latency. Fail-open if mlx-server unreachable.
+# 2026-04-25: switched from Haiku 4.5 subagent to an OpenAI-compatible
+# local/remote endpoint. On Apple Silicon the optional launchd path starts
+# mlx_lm.server; on x86 users can point VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT at vLLM,
+# Ollama, llama.cpp, or any compatible /v1/chat/completions endpoint.
+# Fail-open if the endpoint is unreachable.
 BRIDGE="$HOME/.claude/hooks/sanhedrin-local.py"
 if [ ! -x "$BRIDGE" ] && [ ! -f "$BRIDGE" ]; then
   exit 0
@@ -191,15 +203,15 @@ case "$TRIMMED" in
 
 $REASON
 
-The Executioner (local Qwen3.6-35B-A3B via mlx_lm.server, fresh context,
-fed Vestige deep_reference evidence over HTTP) judged your draft and
+The Executioner (Sanhedrin endpoint, fresh context, fed Vestige
+deep_reference evidence over HTTP) judged your draft and
 found a contradiction against a high-trust memory.
 
 You may NOT stop. Rewrite WITHOUT the contradicted claim. Use
 mcp__vestige__deep_reference to inspect the cited memory and cite the
 correct replacement pattern from its \`recommended\` field.
 
-Local-only, zero API cost, fully offline. Bridge script:
+Bridge script:
 ~/.claude/hooks/sanhedrin-local.py
 SANHEDRIN_MSG
     exit 2
diff --git a/hooks/settings.fragment.json b/hooks/settings.fragment.json
index 12254bd..3ff09a9 100644
--- a/hooks/settings.fragment.json
+++ b/hooks/settings.fragment.json
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
       {
         "hooks": [
           { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/veto-detector.sh", "timeout": 6 },
-          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/sanhedrin.sh", "timeout": 70 },
           { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/synthesis-stop-validator.sh", "timeout": 6 }
         ]
       }
diff --git a/hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json b/hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21dafc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+{
+  "hooks": {
+    "UserPromptSubmit": [
+      {
+        "hooks": [
+          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/synthesis-preflight.sh", "timeout": 8 },
+          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/cwd-state-injector.sh", "timeout": 8 },
+          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/vestige-pulse-daemon.sh", "timeout": 6 },
+          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/preflight-swarm.sh", "timeout": 45 }
+        ]
+      }
+    ],
+    "Stop": [
+      {
+        "hooks": [
+          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/veto-detector.sh", "timeout": 6 },
+          { "type": "command", "command": "VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENABLED=1 $HOME/.claude/hooks/sanhedrin.sh", "timeout": 70 },
+          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/synthesis-stop-validator.sh", "timeout": 6 }
+        ]
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}
diff --git a/scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh b/scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh
index cb9b368..80a0b79 100755
--- a/scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh
+++ b/scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh
@@ -5,21 +5,50 @@ set -u
 ok()   { printf '  \033[1;32m[ OK ]\033[0m %s\n' "$*"; }
 warn() { printf '  \033[1;33m[WARN]\033[0m %s\n' "$*"; FAIL=1; }
 miss() { printf '  \033[1;31m[MISS]\033[0m %s\n' "$*"; FAIL=1; }
+info() { printf '  \033[1;36m[INFO]\033[0m %s\n' "$*"; }
 
 FAIL=0
+CHECK_SANHEDRIN=0
 DASHBOARD_PORT="${VESTIGE_DASHBOARD_PORT:-3927}"
-MLX_ENDPOINT="${MLX_ENDPOINT:-http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/chat/completions}"
-MLX_ENDPOINT="${MLX_ENDPOINT%/}"
-MLX_MODELS_URL="${MLX_ENDPOINT%/chat/completions}/models"
+SANHEDRIN_ENV="${VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENV:-$HOME/.claude/hooks/vestige-sanhedrin.env}"
+
+for arg in "$@"; do
+  case "$arg" in
+    --sanhedrin|--enable-sanhedrin) CHECK_SANHEDRIN=1 ;;
+    -h|--help)
+      cat <<'EOF'
+Usage: scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh [--sanhedrin]
+
+Without flags, checks the lightweight Cognitive Sandwich hooks.
+With --sanhedrin, also checks the optional OpenAI-compatible verifier endpoint.
+EOF
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+if [ -f "$SANHEDRIN_ENV" ]; then
+  set +u
+  set -a
+  # shellcheck disable=SC1090
+  . "$SANHEDRIN_ENV" 2>/dev/null || true
+  set +a
+  set -u
+fi
+
+SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT="${VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT:-${MLX_ENDPOINT:-http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/chat/completions}}"
+SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT="${SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT%/}"
+SANHEDRIN_MODELS_URL="${SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT%/chat/completions}/models"
 
 echo "Vestige Cognitive Sandwich — Prereq Check"
 echo
 
 # Platform
-if [ "$(uname -s)" = "Darwin" ] && [ "$(uname -m)" = "arm64" ]; then
-  ok "Apple Silicon macOS ($(sw_vers -productVersion 2>/dev/null || echo darwin))"
-else
-  miss "Apple Silicon Mac required (M1+). Detected $(uname -s) $(uname -m)."
+OS_NAME="$(uname -s)"
+ARCH_NAME="$(uname -m)"
+ok "Platform: $OS_NAME $ARCH_NAME"
+if [ "$OS_NAME" != "Darwin" ] || [ "$ARCH_NAME" != "arm64" ]; then
+  info "Local MLX launchd is Apple Silicon-only; base hooks and endpoint-backed Sanhedrin can run on x86."
 fi
 
 # Python
@@ -35,24 +64,9 @@ fi
 
 # CLI tools
 command -v jq            >/dev/null && ok "jq"            || miss "jq missing — brew install jq"
-command -v uv            >/dev/null && ok "uv"            || miss "uv missing — brew install uv"
-command -v mlx_lm.server >/dev/null && ok "mlx-lm"        || miss "mlx-lm — uv tool install mlx-lm"
-command -v hf            >/dev/null && ok "huggingface_hub CLI" || miss "hf — uv tool install 'huggingface_hub[cli]'"
 command -v claude        >/dev/null && ok "claude CLI"    || miss "claude CLI — install Claude Code"
 command -v vestige-mcp   >/dev/null && ok "vestige-mcp"   || miss "vestige-mcp — cargo install vestige-mcp"
 
-# Model on disk — HF cache uses `models--<org>--<name>` (double-dash separators).
-MODEL="${VESTIGE_SANDWICH_MODEL:-mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit}"
-HF_HOME_DEFAULT="${HF_HOME:-$HOME/.cache/huggingface}"
-ENC_MODEL="models--$(printf '%s' "$MODEL" | sed 's|/|--|g')"
-if [ -d "$HF_HOME_DEFAULT/hub/$ENC_MODEL" ]; then
-  ok "Model cached: $MODEL"
-else
-  printf '  \033[1;33m[INFO]\033[0m Model not yet downloaded — first run will fetch ~19GB\n'
-  printf '         hf download %s\n' "$MODEL"
-  # NOT a failure — first-run download is expected.
-fi
-
 # Vestige MCP HTTP API
 if curl -fsS -m 2 "http://127.0.0.1:${DASHBOARD_PORT}/api/health" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   ok "vestige-mcp dashboard responding on :$DASHBOARD_PORT"
@@ -60,20 +74,6 @@ else
   warn "vestige-mcp dashboard not responding on :$DASHBOARD_PORT"
 fi
 
-# OpenAI-compatible local/remote model endpoint
-if curl -fsS -m 2 "$MLX_MODELS_URL" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  ok "model endpoint responding at $MLX_MODELS_URL"
-else
-  warn "model endpoint not responding at $MLX_MODELS_URL — install + load launchd plist or set MLX_ENDPOINT"
-fi
-
-# launchd plist
-if [ -f "$HOME/Library/LaunchAgents/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist" ]; then
-  ok "launchd plist installed"
-else
-  warn "launchd plist missing — run: install-sandwich.sh"
-fi
-
 # Settings hook wiring
 if [ -f "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" ] && \
    jq -e '.hooks.UserPromptSubmit and .hooks.Stop' "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
@@ -82,9 +82,59 @@ else
   warn "settings.json missing hooks block — run: install-sandwich.sh"
 fi
 
+if [ "$CHECK_SANHEDRIN" -eq 1 ]; then
+  echo
+  echo "Optional Sanhedrin"
+
+  if [ -f "$SANHEDRIN_ENV" ]; then
+    ok "Sanhedrin env file present"
+  else
+    warn "Sanhedrin env file missing — run: install-sandwich.sh --enable-sanhedrin"
+  fi
+
+  if [ "$OS_NAME" = "Darwin" ] && [ "$ARCH_NAME" = "arm64" ]; then
+    command -v uv            >/dev/null && ok "uv"            || warn "uv missing — brew install uv"
+    command -v mlx_lm.server >/dev/null && ok "mlx-lm"        || warn "mlx-lm — uv tool install mlx-lm"
+    command -v hf            >/dev/null && ok "huggingface_hub CLI" || warn "hf — uv tool install 'huggingface_hub[cli]'"
+
+    MODEL="${VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_MODEL:-${VESTIGE_SANDWICH_MODEL:-mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit}}"
+    HF_HOME_DEFAULT="${HF_HOME:-$HOME/.cache/huggingface}"
+    ENC_MODEL="models--$(printf '%s' "$MODEL" | sed 's|/|--|g')"
+    if [ -d "$HF_HOME_DEFAULT/hub/$ENC_MODEL" ]; then
+      ok "Model cached: $MODEL"
+    else
+      info "Model not cached: $MODEL (local MLX path downloads ~19GB)"
+    fi
+
+    if [ -f "$HOME/Library/LaunchAgents/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist" ]; then
+      ok "launchd plist installed"
+    else
+      info "launchd plist not installed; endpoint-backed Sanhedrin can still run"
+    fi
+  else
+    info "Skipping MLX/launchd checks on $OS_NAME $ARCH_NAME"
+  fi
+
+  if curl -fsS -m 2 "$SANHEDRIN_MODELS_URL" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    ok "Sanhedrin model endpoint responding at $SANHEDRIN_MODELS_URL"
+  else
+    warn "Sanhedrin endpoint not responding at $SANHEDRIN_MODELS_URL"
+  fi
+
+  if [ -f "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" ] && \
+     jq -e '.hooks.Stop[]?.hooks[]?.command | contains("sanhedrin.sh")' "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    ok "Sanhedrin Stop hook wired"
+  else
+    warn "Sanhedrin Stop hook not wired — run: install-sandwich.sh --enable-sanhedrin"
+  fi
+else
+  echo
+  info "Sanhedrin is optional and not checked. Use --sanhedrin to verify an enabled endpoint."
+fi
+
 echo
 if [ $FAIL -eq 0 ]; then
-  echo "  Ready. Cognitive Sandwich will fire on next Claude Code prompt."
+  echo "  Ready. Lightweight Cognitive Sandwich hooks will fire on next Claude Code prompt."
   exit 0
 else
   echo "  Fix the items above, then re-run."
diff --git a/scripts/install-sandwich.sh b/scripts/install-sandwich.sh
index 7b3c70b..89fec30 100755
--- a/scripts/install-sandwich.sh
+++ b/scripts/install-sandwich.sh
@@ -4,26 +4,26 @@
 # Usage:
 #   curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/samvallad33/vestige/v2.1.0/scripts/install-sandwich.sh | sh
 #   # or, from a checkout:
-#   ./scripts/install-sandwich.sh [--force] [--no-launchd] [--include-memory-loader]
+#   ./scripts/install-sandwich.sh [--force] [--enable-sanhedrin] [--with-launchd] [--include-memory-loader]
+#   ./scripts/install-sandwich.sh --enable-sanhedrin --sanhedrin-endpoint=http://127.0.0.1:11434/v1/chat/completions --sanhedrin-model=qwen2.5:14b
 #
 # What it does:
 #   1. Verifies required local tools
-#   2. Stages ~/.claude/hooks/, ~/.claude/agents/, ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
+#   2. Stages ~/.claude/hooks/ and ~/.claude/agents/
 #   3. Copies sanitized hooks + agents
-#   4. Renders launchd plist template with $HOME and chosen MODEL
-#   5. Merges hooks block into ~/.claude/settings.json (preserves existing keys)
-#   6. launchctl load com.vestige.mlx-server (auto-starts mlx_lm.server with Qwen3.6-35B-A3B)
-#   7. Prints next-steps for model download
+#   4. Merges the lightweight hooks block into ~/.claude/settings.json
+#   5. Optionally enables Sanhedrin and, only with --with-launchd on Apple Silicon,
+#      auto-starts mlx_lm.server with Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
 VERSION="${VESTIGE_SANDWICH_VERSION:-v2.1.0}"
 REPO="samvallad33/vestige"
-MODEL_ID="${VESTIGE_SANDWICH_MODEL:-mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit}"
+MODEL_ID="${VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_MODEL:-${VESTIGE_SANDWICH_MODEL:-mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit}}"
 DASHBOARD_PORT="${VESTIGE_DASHBOARD_PORT:-3927}"
-MLX_ENDPOINT="${MLX_ENDPOINT:-http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/chat/completions}"
-MLX_ENDPOINT="${MLX_ENDPOINT%/}"
-MLX_MODELS_URL="${MLX_ENDPOINT%/chat/completions}/models"
+SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT="${VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT:-${MLX_ENDPOINT:-http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/chat/completions}}"
+SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT="${SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT%/}"
+SANHEDRIN_MODELS_URL="${SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT%/chat/completions}/models"
 
 HOOKS_DIR="$HOME/.claude/hooks"
 AGENTS_DIR="$HOME/.claude/agents"
@@ -31,35 +31,53 @@ LAUNCHD_DIR="$HOME/Library/LaunchAgents"
 SETTINGS="$HOME/.claude/settings.json"
 
 FORCE=0
-NO_LAUNCHD=0
+ENABLE_SANHEDRIN=0
+WITH_LAUNCHD=0
 INCLUDE_MEMORY_LOADER=0
 SRC=""
 
 for arg in "$@"; do
   case "$arg" in
     --force) FORCE=1 ;;
-    --no-launchd) NO_LAUNCHD=1 ;;
+    --enable-sanhedrin) ENABLE_SANHEDRIN=1 ;;
+    --with-launchd) WITH_LAUNCHD=1 ;;
+    --no-launchd) WITH_LAUNCHD=0 ;;
     --include-memory-loader) INCLUDE_MEMORY_LOADER=1 ;;
+    --sanhedrin-endpoint=*|--endpoint=*)
+      SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT="${arg#*=}"
+      SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT="${SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT%/}"
+      SANHEDRIN_MODELS_URL="${SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT%/chat/completions}/models"
+      ;;
+    --sanhedrin-model=*|--model=*)
+      MODEL_ID="${arg#*=}"
+      ;;
     --src=*) SRC="${arg#--src=}" ;;
     -h|--help)
-      sed -n '2,20p' "$0"
+      sed -n '2,24p' "$0"
       exit 0
       ;;
   esac
 done
 
+if [ "$WITH_LAUNCHD" -eq 1 ] && [ "$ENABLE_SANHEDRIN" -eq 0 ]; then
+  ENABLE_SANHEDRIN=1
+fi
+
 say()  { printf '\033[1;36m[sandwich]\033[0m %s\n' "$*"; }
 warn() { printf '\033[1;33m[sandwich]\033[0m %s\n' "$*" >&2; }
 die()  { printf '\033[1;31m[sandwich]\033[0m %s\n' "$*" >&2; exit 1; }
 
-# --- Platform check (honors --no-launchd for Linux/Intel users) ---
-if [ "$(uname -s)" != "Darwin" ]; then
-  if [ "$NO_LAUNCHD" -eq 0 ]; then
-    die "macOS required for the launchd auto-start of mlx_lm.server. Re-run with --no-launchd to install hooks only and run mlx_lm.server manually."
-  fi
-  warn "Non-Darwin platform — installing hooks/agents only (no launchd). Run an OpenAI-compatible model endpoint and set MLX_ENDPOINT if it is not $MLX_ENDPOINT."
-elif [ "$(uname -m)" != "arm64" ]; then
-  warn "Apple Silicon recommended (M1+). Detected $(uname -m). The local Qwen3.6 model requires arm64 + Metal."
+# --- Platform check ---
+OS_NAME="$(uname -s)"
+ARCH_NAME="$(uname -m)"
+say "platform: $OS_NAME $ARCH_NAME"
+if [ "$ENABLE_SANHEDRIN" -eq 1 ] && [ "$WITH_LAUNCHD" -eq 0 ]; then
+  say "Sanhedrin enabled without launchd; using OpenAI-compatible endpoint: $SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT"
+fi
+if [ "$WITH_LAUNCHD" -eq 1 ] && { [ "$OS_NAME" != "Darwin" ] || [ "$ARCH_NAME" != "arm64" ]; }; then
+  warn "--with-launchd is Apple Silicon only; skipping local MLX autostart on $OS_NAME $ARCH_NAME"
+  warn "Sanhedrin can still run on x86 via --sanhedrin-endpoint or VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT."
+  WITH_LAUNCHD=0
 fi
 
 # --- Prereqs (warnings only, install proceeds) ---
@@ -67,9 +85,11 @@ command -v jq      >/dev/null || die "jq required: brew install jq"
 command -v python3 >/dev/null || die "python3 required (3.10+)"
 command -v claude  >/dev/null || warn "'claude' CLI not found — install Claude Code first."
 command -v vestige-mcp >/dev/null || warn "'vestige-mcp' not found — install with: cargo install vestige-mcp"
-command -v uv      >/dev/null || warn "'uv' not found — install with: brew install uv"
-command -v mlx_lm.server >/dev/null || warn "mlx-lm not installed — run: uv tool install mlx-lm"
-command -v hf      >/dev/null || warn "'hf' not found — run: uv tool install 'huggingface_hub[cli]'"
+if [ "$WITH_LAUNCHD" -eq 1 ]; then
+  command -v uv      >/dev/null || warn "'uv' not found — install with: brew install uv"
+  command -v mlx_lm.server >/dev/null || warn "mlx-lm not installed — run: uv tool install mlx-lm"
+  command -v hf      >/dev/null || warn "'hf' not found — run: uv tool install 'huggingface_hub[cli]'"
+fi
 
 # --- Resolve source: local checkout or release tarball ---
 if [ -n "$SRC" ]; then
@@ -89,7 +109,21 @@ fi
 [ -d "$SCRIPT_DIR/hooks" ] || die "hooks/ not found in $SCRIPT_DIR — wrong source?"
 
 # --- Stage directories ---
-mkdir -p "$HOOKS_DIR" "$AGENTS_DIR" "$LAUNCHD_DIR"
+mkdir -p "$HOOKS_DIR" "$AGENTS_DIR"
+if [ "$WITH_LAUNCHD" -eq 1 ]; then
+  mkdir -p "$LAUNCHD_DIR"
+fi
+
+# v2.1.0 originally installed the MLX server as part of the default path.
+# Default reinstalls now retire that job; users can restore it with --with-launchd.
+if [ "$WITH_LAUNCHD" -eq 0 ] && [ "$OS_NAME" = "Darwin" ]; then
+  LEGACY_PLIST="$LAUNCHD_DIR/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist"
+  if [ -f "$LEGACY_PLIST" ]; then
+    launchctl unload "$LEGACY_PLIST" 2>/dev/null || true
+    rm -f "$LEGACY_PLIST"
+    say "removed old Sanhedrin launchd job (use --with-launchd to opt back in)"
+  fi
+fi
 
 # --- Copy hooks ---
 copied=0; skipped=0
@@ -121,8 +155,25 @@ for f in "$SCRIPT_DIR/agents"/*.md; do
 done
 say "agents installed to $AGENTS_DIR"
 
-# --- Render launchd plist (macOS only) ---
-if [ "$NO_LAUNCHD" -eq 0 ]; then
+# --- Persist optional Sanhedrin env ---
+quote_env() {
+  printf "'%s'" "$(printf '%s' "$1" | sed "s/'/'\\\\''/g")"
+}
+
+if [ "$ENABLE_SANHEDRIN" -eq 1 ]; then
+  SANHEDRIN_ENV="$HOOKS_DIR/vestige-sanhedrin.env"
+  {
+    printf 'VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENABLED=1\n'
+    printf 'VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT=%s\n' "$(quote_env "$SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT")"
+    printf 'VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_MODEL=%s\n' "$(quote_env "$MODEL_ID")"
+    printf 'VESTIGE_DASHBOARD_PORT=%s\n' "$(quote_env "$DASHBOARD_PORT")"
+  } > "$SANHEDRIN_ENV"
+  chmod 0600 "$SANHEDRIN_ENV"
+  say "Sanhedrin opt-in config written to $SANHEDRIN_ENV"
+fi
+
+# --- Render launchd plist (Apple Silicon opt-in only) ---
+if [ "$WITH_LAUNCHD" -eq 1 ]; then
   PLIST="$LAUNCHD_DIR/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist"
   TEMPLATE="$SCRIPT_DIR/launchd/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist.template"
   [ -f "$TEMPLATE" ] || die "launchd template missing: $TEMPLATE"
@@ -140,7 +191,11 @@ else
   cp "$SETTINGS" "$HOME/.claude/settings.json.bak.pre-sandwich"
 fi
 TMP_MERGE="$(mktemp)"
-jq -s '.[0] * .[1]' "$SETTINGS" "$SCRIPT_DIR/hooks/settings.fragment.json" > "$TMP_MERGE"
+SETTINGS_FRAGMENT="$SCRIPT_DIR/hooks/settings.fragment.json"
+if [ "$ENABLE_SANHEDRIN" -eq 1 ]; then
+  SETTINGS_FRAGMENT="$SCRIPT_DIR/hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json"
+fi
+jq -s '.[0] * .[1]' "$SETTINGS" "$SETTINGS_FRAGMENT" > "$TMP_MERGE"
 mv "$TMP_MERGE" "$SETTINGS"
 say "merged hooks block into $SETTINGS (backup at .bak.pre-sandwich)"
 
@@ -148,23 +203,24 @@ say "merged hooks block into $SETTINGS (backup at .bak.pre-sandwich)"
 cat <<EOF
 
   ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
-  │  Cognitive Sandwich installed.                                │
+  │  Cognitive Sandwich hooks installed.                          │
   └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
 
   Next steps:
-    1. Download the local model (~19 GB, one-time):
-         hf download $MODEL_ID
-    2. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new hooks.
-    3. Verify the install:
+    1. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new hooks.
+    2. Verify the install:
          vestige health                 # if vestige CLI installed
          curl http://127.0.0.1:$DASHBOARD_PORT/api/health
-         curl $MLX_MODELS_URL
-    4. Try a prompt — the Sanhedrin Stop hook will fire and judge
-       Claude's draft against your Vestige memory before delivery.
+         scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh   # from a checkout
+    3. Optional Sanhedrin verifier:
+         ./scripts/install-sandwich.sh --enable-sanhedrin --sanhedrin-endpoint=$SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT --sanhedrin-model=$MODEL_ID
+       On Apple Silicon with >20 GB free RAM, add --with-launchd to auto-start
+       the local MLX Qwen server. On x86, point --sanhedrin-endpoint at vLLM,
+       Ollama, llama.cpp, or another OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions URL.
 
   To uninstall:
-    launchctl unload $LAUNCHD_DIR/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist
-    rm $LAUNCHD_DIR/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist
+    launchctl unload $LAUNCHD_DIR/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist 2>/dev/null || true
+    rm -f $LAUNCHD_DIR/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist
     cp $HOME/.claude/settings.json.bak.pre-sandwich $HOME/.claude/settings.json
 
 EOF

From cb7ee2dcb57a1f7478631a08f806b14dadf35f5e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sam Valladares <samvalladares21@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 1 May 2026 05:02:31 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] Remove default Vestige Stop hooks from v2.1.0

---
 CHANGELOG.md                      |  6 +++---
 docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md        | 17 ++++++++---------
 hooks/settings.fragment.json      |  8 --------
 scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh | 19 ++++++++++++++-----
 scripts/install-sandwich.sh       | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
 5 files changed, 52 insertions(+), 29 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 33145d6..d9ed241 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 The Sanhedrin Executioner — Vestige's veto layer for Claude Code responses — can run against a local MLX model (`mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit`) when explicitly enabled. Combined with four pre-cognitive UserPromptSubmit hooks (synthesis-preflight, cwd-state-injector, vestige-pulse-daemon, preflight-swarm), Vestige now ships a complete "Cognitive Sandwich" — Vestige memories injected before the model thinks, optional Sanhedrin veto after the model speaks.
 
-> 2026-05-01 hotfix: Sanhedrin is optional by default. The default installer no longer wires the Sanhedrin Stop hook, no longer starts MLX, and removes the old v2.1.0 MLX launchd job on reinstall. Users who want Sanhedrin can opt in with `--enable-sanhedrin`; Apple Silicon local MLX autostart is a separate `--with-launchd` flag, and x86 users can point `--sanhedrin-endpoint` at any OpenAI-compatible `/v1/chat/completions` endpoint.
+> 2026-05-01 hotfix: Sanhedrin and all Vestige Stop hooks are optional by default. The default installer wires UserPromptSubmit preflight hooks only, removes old Vestige Stop hooks from previous v2.1.0 installs, no longer starts MLX, and removes the old v2.1.0 MLX launchd job on reinstall. Users who want Sanhedrin can opt in with `--enable-sanhedrin`; Apple Silicon local MLX autostart is a separate `--with-launchd` flag, and x86 users can point `--sanhedrin-endpoint` at any OpenAI-compatible `/v1/chat/completions` endpoint.
 
 ### Added
 
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ The Sanhedrin Executioner — Vestige's veto layer for Claude Code responses —
   - `synthesis-stop-validator.sh` — Stop hook regex against forbidden hedging patterns.
   - `veto-detector.sh` — fast 50ms regex pre-screen against `veto`-tagged Vestige memories.
   - `synthesis-gate.sh` — legacy v1 trigger (kept for backward compat).
-  - `settings.fragment.json` — lightweight JSON snippet merged into `~/.claude/settings.json` by the default installer.
+  - `settings.fragment.json` — default UserPromptSubmit-only JSON snippet merged into `~/.claude/settings.json` by the installer.
   - `settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json` — opt-in JSON snippet used only with `--enable-sanhedrin`.
 - **Dashboard `/api/changelog` endpoint** — bounded REST event feed for recent `DreamCompleted` and `ConnectionDiscovered` events, used by the Pulse hook to inject fresh synthesis into Claude Code context.
 - **`agents/`** — `executioner.md` (legacy/fallback Haiku 4.5 path), `lateral-thinker.md`, `synthesis-composer.md`.
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ The Sanhedrin Executioner — Vestige's veto layer for Claude Code responses —
 
 ### Changed
 
-- **Sanhedrin is optional by default.** Default installs run on x86 and low-memory machines without downloading or starting the 19 GB MLX model. Reinstalling the default v2.1.0 hotfix removes the old mandatory `com.vestige.mlx-server` launchd job if it exists.
+- **Sanhedrin and all Vestige Stop hooks are optional by default.** Default installs run on x86 and low-memory machines without wiring any Vestige Stop hook, downloading the 19 GB MLX model, or starting MLX. Reinstalling the default v2.1.0 hotfix removes the old Vestige Stop hooks and the old mandatory `com.vestige.mlx-server` launchd job if they exist.
 - **Sanhedrin Executioner backend swapped from Anthropic Haiku 4.5 → OpenAI-compatible endpoint, with local `mlx_lm.server` + Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit as the Apple Silicon opt-in path.** Anthropic API key no longer required for the post-cognitive layer. The `executioner.md` agent definition is retained as manual/fallback only when invoked explicitly via `Task(subagent_type='executioner')`.
 - **All hooks sanitized for public release** — replaced hardcoded personal absolute paths with `$HOME` / `$VESTIGE_*` env vars; removed personal regex tokens.
 - **NPM binary installer now follows package version** — `vestige-mcp-server@2.1.0` downloads release assets from `v2.1.0` instead of a stale hardcoded binary tag, while local workspace installs skip the release-asset download before the tag exists.
diff --git a/docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md b/docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md
index 9463627..1f74fb8 100644
--- a/docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md
+++ b/docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 **Vestige's defense-in-depth safety architecture for Claude Code.**
 
-The Cognitive Sandwich wraps every Claude Code response in two layers of cognitive scaffolding:
+The default Cognitive Sandwich installs the preflight layer only. The Stop-hook layer is explicit opt-in:
 
 ```
 ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
@@ -15,14 +15,13 @@ The Cognitive Sandwich wraps every Claude Code response in two layers of cogniti
 ├────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
 │  🥩 MEAT       — Claude Code reasons            │
 ├────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
-│  🥪 BOTTOM BREAD — Stop hooks                   │
-│   • Veto-detector (fast 50ms regex pre-screen)  │
-│   • Sanhedrin Executioner (optional verifier)   │
-│   • Synthesis stop validator (hedge detector)   │
+│  🥪 OPTIONAL BOTTOM BREAD — Stop hooks          │
+│   • Veto-detector / synthesis validator         │
+│   • Sanhedrin Executioner verifier              │
 └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
 ```
 
-Sanhedrin is optional. The default installer wires the lightweight preflight and stop hooks only; it does not start MLX, require a 19 GB model download, or require 20+ GB of RAM. Users who want the post-response semantic verifier can opt in and point it at any OpenAI-compatible `/v1/chat/completions` endpoint. On Apple Silicon, an additional `--with-launchd` flag can auto-start the local MLX Qwen backend.
+Sanhedrin and all Vestige Stop hooks are optional. The default installer wires UserPromptSubmit preflight hooks only; it does not install any Vestige Stop hook, start MLX, require a 19 GB model download, or require 20+ GB of RAM. Users who want the post-response verifier can opt in and point it at any OpenAI-compatible `/v1/chat/completions` endpoint. On Apple Silicon, an additional `--with-launchd` flag can auto-start the local MLX Qwen backend.
 
 ---
 
@@ -36,7 +35,7 @@ Sanhedrin is optional. The default installer wires the lightweight preflight and
    - `vestige-pulse-daemon.sh` — injects fresh Vestige dream insights from the past 20 min into the next prompt context
    - `preflight-swarm.sh` — spawns the `lateral-thinker` subagent in fresh context to surface cross-disciplinary structural parallels
 3. **Claude reads the assembled context and generates a draft.**
-4. **Stop hooks fire serially** (any can VETO with `exit 2`, forcing a rewrite):
+4. **By default, no Vestige Stop hooks are installed.** If explicitly enabled, Stop hooks fire serially (any can VETO with `exit 2`, forcing a rewrite):
    - `veto-detector.sh` — fast regex against `veto`-tagged Vestige memories (~50ms)
    - `sanhedrin.sh` → `sanhedrin-local.py` — optional single-shot semantic verdict
    - `synthesis-stop-validator.sh` — regex against forbidden patterns (hedging, summary-instead-of-composition)
@@ -126,7 +125,7 @@ Optional Apple Silicon local Sanhedrin backend:
 
 1. Verifies prereqs (warnings for missing tools, fatal only on jq/python3).
 2. Copies hooks to `~/.claude/hooks/`, agents to `~/.claude/agents/`.
-3. Backs up existing `~/.claude/settings.json` to `.bak.pre-sandwich`, then `jq`-merges the lightweight hooks block.
+3. Backs up existing `~/.claude/settings.json` to `.bak.pre-sandwich`, then `jq`-merges the default UserPromptSubmit hooks block and removes old Vestige Stop hooks from previous v2.1.0 installs.
 4. With `--enable-sanhedrin`, writes `~/.claude/hooks/vestige-sanhedrin.env` and merges a Sanhedrin-enabled hooks block.
 5. With `--enable-sanhedrin --with-launchd` on Apple Silicon, renders and loads `launchd/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist.template`.
 
@@ -180,7 +179,7 @@ Full architecture memory: search Vestige for `god-tier-plan` or `cognitive-sandw
 The base hook harness runs on x86. The launchd MLX helper is macOS-arm64-only.
 
 On Linux, Windows under WSL, or Intel Mac:
-- Run `scripts/install-sandwich.sh` normally for lightweight hooks.
+- Run `scripts/install-sandwich.sh` normally for default preflight hooks with no Vestige Stop hooks.
 - If you want Sanhedrin, run an OpenAI-compatible endpoint such as vLLM, Ollama, llama.cpp server, or a remote MLX/vLLM box.
 - Install with `--enable-sanhedrin --sanhedrin-endpoint=<url> --sanhedrin-model=<model>`.
 - If the endpoint is unreachable, Sanhedrin fails open and does not block Claude Code.
diff --git a/hooks/settings.fragment.json b/hooks/settings.fragment.json
index 3ff09a9..7a0d829 100644
--- a/hooks/settings.fragment.json
+++ b/hooks/settings.fragment.json
@@ -9,14 +9,6 @@
           { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/preflight-swarm.sh", "timeout": 45 }
         ]
       }
-    ],
-    "Stop": [
-      {
-        "hooks": [
-          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/veto-detector.sh", "timeout": 6 },
-          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/synthesis-stop-validator.sh", "timeout": 6 }
-        ]
-      }
     ]
   }
 }
diff --git a/scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh b/scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh
index 80a0b79..1e5f4b7 100755
--- a/scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh
+++ b/scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ for arg in "$@"; do
       cat <<'EOF'
 Usage: scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh [--sanhedrin]
 
-Without flags, checks the lightweight Cognitive Sandwich hooks.
+Without flags, checks the default Cognitive Sandwich preflight hooks.
 With --sanhedrin, also checks the optional OpenAI-compatible verifier endpoint.
 EOF
       exit 0
@@ -76,10 +76,19 @@ fi
 
 # Settings hook wiring
 if [ -f "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" ] && \
-   jq -e '.hooks.UserPromptSubmit and .hooks.Stop' "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  ok "settings.json hooks block present"
+   jq -e '.hooks.UserPromptSubmit' "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  ok "settings.json UserPromptSubmit hooks present"
 else
-  warn "settings.json missing hooks block — run: install-sandwich.sh"
+  warn "settings.json missing UserPromptSubmit hooks — run: install-sandwich.sh"
+fi
+
+if [ "$CHECK_SANHEDRIN" -eq 0 ]; then
+  if [ -f "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" ] && \
+     jq -e 'any(.hooks.Stop[]?.hooks[]?; ((.command? // "") | contains("/.claude/hooks/veto-detector.sh") or contains("/.claude/hooks/sanhedrin.sh") or contains("/.claude/hooks/synthesis-stop-validator.sh")))' "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    warn "Vestige Stop hooks are still wired; run: install-sandwich.sh --force"
+  else
+    ok "no Vestige Stop hooks wired by default"
+  fi
 fi
 
 if [ "$CHECK_SANHEDRIN" -eq 1 ]; then
@@ -134,7 +143,7 @@ fi
 
 echo
 if [ $FAIL -eq 0 ]; then
-  echo "  Ready. Lightweight Cognitive Sandwich hooks will fire on next Claude Code prompt."
+  echo "  Ready. Default preflight hooks will fire on next Claude Code prompt; no Vestige Stop hooks are wired."
   exit 0
 else
   echo "  Fix the items above, then re-run."
diff --git a/scripts/install-sandwich.sh b/scripts/install-sandwich.sh
index 89fec30..4f1a331 100755
--- a/scripts/install-sandwich.sh
+++ b/scripts/install-sandwich.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 #   1. Verifies required local tools
 #   2. Stages ~/.claude/hooks/ and ~/.claude/agents/
 #   3. Copies sanitized hooks + agents
-#   4. Merges the lightweight hooks block into ~/.claude/settings.json
+#   4. Merges the default UserPromptSubmit hooks into ~/.claude/settings.json
 #   5. Optionally enables Sanhedrin and, only with --with-launchd on Apple Silicon,
 #      auto-starts mlx_lm.server with Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
 
@@ -195,19 +195,42 @@ SETTINGS_FRAGMENT="$SCRIPT_DIR/hooks/settings.fragment.json"
 if [ "$ENABLE_SANHEDRIN" -eq 1 ]; then
   SETTINGS_FRAGMENT="$SCRIPT_DIR/hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json"
 fi
-jq -s '.[0] * .[1]' "$SETTINGS" "$SETTINGS_FRAGMENT" > "$TMP_MERGE"
+jq -s --arg enable_sanhedrin "$ENABLE_SANHEDRIN" '
+  def is_vestige_stop:
+    (.command? // "") as $cmd
+    | ($cmd | contains("/.claude/hooks/veto-detector.sh"))
+      or ($cmd | contains("/.claude/hooks/sanhedrin.sh"))
+      or ($cmd | contains("/.claude/hooks/synthesis-stop-validator.sh"));
+
+  .[0] * .[1]
+  | if $enable_sanhedrin == "1" then
+      .
+    else
+      .hooks.Stop = (
+        (.hooks.Stop // [])
+        | map(.hooks = ((.hooks // []) | map(select((is_vestige_stop | not)))))
+        | map(select(((.hooks // []) | length) > 0))
+      )
+      | if ((.hooks.Stop // []) | length) == 0 then del(.hooks.Stop) else . end
+    end
+' "$SETTINGS" "$SETTINGS_FRAGMENT" > "$TMP_MERGE"
 mv "$TMP_MERGE" "$SETTINGS"
-say "merged hooks block into $SETTINGS (backup at .bak.pre-sandwich)"
+if [ "$ENABLE_SANHEDRIN" -eq 1 ]; then
+  say "merged hooks block into $SETTINGS with Sanhedrin Stop hook enabled (backup at .bak.pre-sandwich)"
+else
+  say "merged default preflight hooks into $SETTINGS; no Vestige Stop hooks are installed (backup at .bak.pre-sandwich)"
+fi
 
 # --- Next steps ---
 cat <<EOF
 
   ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
-  │  Cognitive Sandwich hooks installed.                          │
+  │  Cognitive Sandwich preflight hooks installed.                 │
   └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
 
   Next steps:
     1. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new hooks.
+       Default installs include no Vestige Stop hooks.
     2. Verify the install:
          vestige health                 # if vestige CLI installed
          curl http://127.0.0.1:$DASHBOARD_PORT/api/health

From 1d95347b889faeb17f128a409d3f331c859ec0f9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sam Valladares <samvalladares21@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 1 May 2026 05:12:54 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] Make all Cognitive Sandwich hooks opt-in

---
 CHANGELOG.md                           | 13 ++--
 README.md                              |  6 +-
 docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md             | 28 +++++---
 hooks/settings.fragment.json           | 15 +---
 hooks/settings.preflight.fragment.json | 14 ++++
 hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json | 10 ---
 scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh      | 52 ++++++++------
 scripts/install-sandwich.sh            | 94 ++++++++++++++++----------
 8 files changed, 137 insertions(+), 95 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 hooks/settings.preflight.fragment.json

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d9ed241..f03462d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 The Sanhedrin Executioner — Vestige's veto layer for Claude Code responses — can run against a local MLX model (`mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit`) when explicitly enabled. Combined with four pre-cognitive UserPromptSubmit hooks (synthesis-preflight, cwd-state-injector, vestige-pulse-daemon, preflight-swarm), Vestige now ships a complete "Cognitive Sandwich" — Vestige memories injected before the model thinks, optional Sanhedrin veto after the model speaks.
 
-> 2026-05-01 hotfix: Sanhedrin and all Vestige Stop hooks are optional by default. The default installer wires UserPromptSubmit preflight hooks only, removes old Vestige Stop hooks from previous v2.1.0 installs, no longer starts MLX, and removes the old v2.1.0 MLX launchd job on reinstall. Users who want Sanhedrin can opt in with `--enable-sanhedrin`; Apple Silicon local MLX autostart is a separate `--with-launchd` flag, and x86 users can point `--sanhedrin-endpoint` at any OpenAI-compatible `/v1/chat/completions` endpoint.
+> 2026-05-01 hotfix: Sanhedrin, preflight, and all Vestige Claude Code hooks are optional by default. The default installer activates no hooks, makes no automatic model calls, removes old Vestige hook wiring from previous v2.1.0 installs, no longer starts MLX, and removes the old v2.1.0 MLX launchd job on reinstall. Users who want preflight can opt in with `--enable-preflight`; users who want Sanhedrin can opt in with `--enable-sanhedrin`; Apple Silicon local MLX autostart is a separate `--with-launchd` flag, and x86 users can point `--sanhedrin-endpoint` at any OpenAI-compatible `/v1/chat/completions` endpoint.
 
 ### Added
 
@@ -23,19 +23,20 @@ The Sanhedrin Executioner — Vestige's veto layer for Claude Code responses —
   - `synthesis-stop-validator.sh` — Stop hook regex against forbidden hedging patterns.
   - `veto-detector.sh` — fast 50ms regex pre-screen against `veto`-tagged Vestige memories.
   - `synthesis-gate.sh` — legacy v1 trigger (kept for backward compat).
-  - `settings.fragment.json` — default UserPromptSubmit-only JSON snippet merged into `~/.claude/settings.json` by the installer.
+  - `settings.fragment.json` — empty default fragment used to remove old Vestige hook wiring without enabling new hooks.
+  - `settings.preflight.fragment.json` — opt-in UserPromptSubmit hooks used only with `--enable-preflight`.
   - `settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json` — opt-in JSON snippet used only with `--enable-sanhedrin`.
 - **Dashboard `/api/changelog` endpoint** — bounded REST event feed for recent `DreamCompleted` and `ConnectionDiscovered` events, used by the Pulse hook to inject fresh synthesis into Claude Code context.
 - **`agents/`** — `executioner.md` (legacy/fallback Haiku 4.5 path), `lateral-thinker.md`, `synthesis-composer.md`.
 - **`launchd/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist.template`** — optional Apple Silicon helper that auto-starts `mlx_lm.server` with the Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit model on login. Templated with `__HOME__` and `__MODEL__` placeholders.
 - **`scripts/install-sandwich.sh`** — one-command installer that stages hooks, agents, jq-merges the settings fragment, and backs up `settings.json` to `.bak.pre-sandwich`. Supports `--force`, `--enable-sanhedrin`, `--with-launchd`, `--sanhedrin-endpoint`, `--sanhedrin-model`, `--include-memory-loader`, `--src=PATH`.
-- **`scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh`** — prereq verifier for lightweight hooks by default, with `--sanhedrin` for the optional endpoint / MLX checks.
+- **`scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh`** — verifier that default installs have no Vestige hooks wired, with `--preflight` and `--sanhedrin` checks for optional layers.
 - **`docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md`** — architecture diagram, install guide, performance notes (82 tok/s on M3 Max), uninstall, configuration env vars.
 - **PR #48** — `VESTIGE_DATA_DIR` env-var support + tilde expansion + secure unix perms (thanks @Jelloeater) — directly addresses the ghost env-vars exposed by v2.0.9 cleanup.
 
 ### Changed
 
-- **Sanhedrin and all Vestige Stop hooks are optional by default.** Default installs run on x86 and low-memory machines without wiring any Vestige Stop hook, downloading the 19 GB MLX model, or starting MLX. Reinstalling the default v2.1.0 hotfix removes the old Vestige Stop hooks and the old mandatory `com.vestige.mlx-server` launchd job if they exist.
+- **Sanhedrin, preflight, and all Vestige Claude Code hooks are optional by default.** Default installs run on x86 and low-memory machines without wiring any Vestige hook, calling Claude, downloading the 19 GB MLX model, or starting MLX. Reinstalling the default v2.1.0 hotfix removes the old Vestige hook wiring and the old mandatory `com.vestige.mlx-server` launchd job if they exist.
 - **Sanhedrin Executioner backend swapped from Anthropic Haiku 4.5 → OpenAI-compatible endpoint, with local `mlx_lm.server` + Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit as the Apple Silicon opt-in path.** Anthropic API key no longer required for the post-cognitive layer. The `executioner.md` agent definition is retained as manual/fallback only when invoked explicitly via `Task(subagent_type='executioner')`.
 - **All hooks sanitized for public release** — replaced hardcoded personal absolute paths with `$HOME` / `$VESTIGE_*` env vars; removed personal regex tokens.
 - **NPM binary installer now follows package version** — `vestige-mcp-server@2.1.0` downloads release assets from `v2.1.0` instead of a stale hardcoded binary tag, while local workspace installs skip the release-asset download before the tag exists.
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ The Sanhedrin Executioner — Vestige's veto layer for Claude Code responses —
 - `cargo test --workspace --release --no-fail-fast`: **1,229 passing, 0 failed** (366 vestige-core + 358 vestige-mcp lib + 4 vestige-mcp bin + 497 e2e + 4 doctests).
 - Sanhedrin bridge smoke checks: Python bytecode compilation passes, fail-open bridge invocation returns `yes`, and public hook settings validate as JSON.
 - 8-day Sandwich dogfood: **84% pass rate, 16% legitimate vetoes** caught real hallucinations.
-- 2026-05-01 hotfix checks: `cargo test --workspace --no-fail-fast`, `cargo build --release --workspace`, shell/Python/JSON validation, and default/opt-in installer dry-runs all pass.
+- 2026-05-01 hotfix checks: `cargo test --workspace --no-fail-fast`, `cargo build --release --workspace`, shell/Python/JSON validation, and default/preflight/Sanhedrin installer dry-runs all pass.
 
 ### Closes
 
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ Optional local MLX Sanhedrin backend:
 
 ### Migration
 
-None required for existing Vestige users. The Cognitive Sandwich is opt-in via `scripts/install-sandwich.sh`. The MCP server, schema, and tool surface are bit-identical to v2.0.9.
+None required for existing Vestige users. The default installer now removes old v2.1.0 Claude Code hook wiring. The Cognitive Sandwich hook layers are opt-in via `--enable-preflight`, `--enable-sanhedrin`, or `--enable-sandwich`. The MCP server, schema, and tool surface are bit-identical to v2.0.9.
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dc7973e..f3f1a83 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@ Built on 130 years of memory research — FSRS-6 spaced repetition, prediction e
 
 ## What's New in v2.1.0 "Cognitive Sandwich Goes Local"
 
-v2.1.0 adds an opt-in Claude Code hook harness around the existing Vestige MCP server. The MCP tool surface and database schema stay backward compatible, while the new local Sanhedrin verifier and preflight hooks can inject trusted memory context before Claude answers and check drafts against high-trust Vestige evidence before delivery.
+v2.1.0 adds an opt-in Claude Code hook harness around the existing Vestige MCP server. The MCP tool surface and database schema stay backward compatible, while optional preflight hooks can inject trusted memory context before Claude answers and optional Sanhedrin hooks can check drafts against high-trust Vestige evidence before delivery.
 
-- **Local Sanhedrin Executioner.** The post-response verifier now runs through `mlx_lm.server` with `mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit` by default, so the veto layer can run offline on Apple Silicon without Anthropic API calls.
-- **One-command Cognitive Sandwich installer.** `scripts/install-sandwich.sh` stages hooks, agents, and a launchd plist, merges the Claude Code hooks block, and prints real verification commands.
+- **Optional Sanhedrin Executioner.** The post-response verifier can run through `mlx_lm.server` with `mlx-community/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit` on Apple Silicon, or through any OpenAI-compatible endpoint on x86, but it is never enabled by default.
+- **One-command Cognitive Sandwich installer.** `scripts/install-sandwich.sh` stages hook files and agents, removes old v2.1.0 hook wiring by default, and only activates Claude Code hooks with explicit `--enable-preflight`, `--enable-sanhedrin`, or `--enable-sandwich`.
 - **Pulse hook backed by `/api/changelog`.** Fresh dream and connection events can be injected into the next Claude Code prompt context without blocking the prompt.
 - **`VESTIGE_DATA_DIR` support.** `--data-dir` now has an env-var fallback, tilde expansion, secure directory creation, and clear precedence docs.
 - **NPM release wrapper fixed.** `vestige-mcp-server@2.1.0` now downloads binaries from the matching `v2.1.0` GitHub release tag instead of an old hardcoded release.
diff --git a/docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md b/docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md
index 1f74fb8..da4053d 100644
--- a/docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md
+++ b/docs/COGNITIVE_SANDWICH.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 **Vestige's defense-in-depth safety architecture for Claude Code.**
 
-The default Cognitive Sandwich installs the preflight layer only. The Stop-hook layer is explicit opt-in:
+The default Cognitive Sandwich installer only stages files and removes old v2.1.0 hook wiring. It activates no Claude Code hooks and makes no automatic model calls. Both the preflight layer and the Stop-hook layer are explicit opt-ins:
 
 ```
 ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
@@ -21,14 +21,14 @@ The default Cognitive Sandwich installs the preflight layer only. The Stop-hook
 └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
 ```
 
-Sanhedrin and all Vestige Stop hooks are optional. The default installer wires UserPromptSubmit preflight hooks only; it does not install any Vestige Stop hook, start MLX, require a 19 GB model download, or require 20+ GB of RAM. Users who want the post-response verifier can opt in and point it at any OpenAI-compatible `/v1/chat/completions` endpoint. On Apple Silicon, an additional `--with-launchd` flag can auto-start the local MLX Qwen backend.
+Sanhedrin, preflight, and all Vestige Claude Code hooks are optional. The default installer wires none of them; it does not call Claude, start MLX, require a 19 GB model download, or require 20+ GB of RAM. Users who want preflight context can opt in with `--enable-preflight`. Users who want the post-response verifier can opt in with `--enable-sanhedrin` and point it at any OpenAI-compatible `/v1/chat/completions` endpoint. On Apple Silicon, an additional `--with-launchd` flag can auto-start the local MLX Qwen backend.
 
 ---
 
 ## How a single response flows through the Sandwich
 
 1. **You type a prompt in Claude Code.**
-2. **UserPromptSubmit hooks fire in parallel** (none can block — all fail-open):
+2. **If explicitly enabled, UserPromptSubmit hooks fire in parallel** (none can block — all fail-open):
    - `load-all-memory.sh` (opt-in) — dumps every memory MD into context
    - `synthesis-preflight.sh` — POSTs your prompt to `vestige-mcp` `/api/deep_reference`, injects the trust-scored reasoning chain
    - `cwd-state-injector.sh` — captures git status, branch, open PRs/issues, modified files
@@ -81,7 +81,18 @@ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/samvallad33/vestige/v2.1.0/scripts/
 git clone https://github.com/samvallad33/vestige
 cd vestige
 ./scripts/install-sandwich.sh           # add --force to overwrite existing hooks
-./scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh     # verify everything's wired
+./scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh     # verify no Vestige hooks are wired by default
+```
+
+The default command does not activate any Claude Code hook. It removes old v2.1.0 Vestige hook wiring from `~/.claude/settings.json` while preserving unrelated user hooks.
+
+### Optional Preflight
+
+Preflight is a separate opt-in layer. It includes `preflight-swarm.sh`, which uses `claude -p --model claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`; it is not wired by default.
+
+```bash
+./scripts/install-sandwich.sh --enable-preflight
+./scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh --preflight
 ```
 
 ### Optional Sanhedrin
@@ -125,9 +136,10 @@ Optional Apple Silicon local Sanhedrin backend:
 
 1. Verifies prereqs (warnings for missing tools, fatal only on jq/python3).
 2. Copies hooks to `~/.claude/hooks/`, agents to `~/.claude/agents/`.
-3. Backs up existing `~/.claude/settings.json` to `.bak.pre-sandwich`, then `jq`-merges the default UserPromptSubmit hooks block and removes old Vestige Stop hooks from previous v2.1.0 installs.
-4. With `--enable-sanhedrin`, writes `~/.claude/hooks/vestige-sanhedrin.env` and merges a Sanhedrin-enabled hooks block.
-5. With `--enable-sanhedrin --with-launchd` on Apple Silicon, renders and loads `launchd/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist.template`.
+3. Backs up existing `~/.claude/settings.json` to `.bak.pre-sandwich`, then removes old Vestige hook wiring from previous v2.1.0 installs.
+4. With `--enable-preflight`, merges the UserPromptSubmit hooks block.
+5. With `--enable-sanhedrin`, writes `~/.claude/hooks/vestige-sanhedrin.env` and merges a Sanhedrin-enabled Stop hooks block.
+6. With `--enable-sanhedrin --with-launchd` on Apple Silicon, renders and loads `launchd/com.vestige.mlx-server.plist.template`.
 
 ### Uninstall
 
@@ -179,7 +191,7 @@ Full architecture memory: search Vestige for `god-tier-plan` or `cognitive-sandw
 The base hook harness runs on x86. The launchd MLX helper is macOS-arm64-only.
 
 On Linux, Windows under WSL, or Intel Mac:
-- Run `scripts/install-sandwich.sh` normally for default preflight hooks with no Vestige Stop hooks.
+- Run `scripts/install-sandwich.sh` normally to stage files and remove old Vestige hook wiring. No hooks are activated.
 - If you want Sanhedrin, run an OpenAI-compatible endpoint such as vLLM, Ollama, llama.cpp server, or a remote MLX/vLLM box.
 - Install with `--enable-sanhedrin --sanhedrin-endpoint=<url> --sanhedrin-model=<model>`.
 - If the endpoint is unreachable, Sanhedrin fails open and does not block Claude Code.
diff --git a/hooks/settings.fragment.json b/hooks/settings.fragment.json
index 7a0d829..0967ef4 100644
--- a/hooks/settings.fragment.json
+++ b/hooks/settings.fragment.json
@@ -1,14 +1 @@
-{
-  "hooks": {
-    "UserPromptSubmit": [
-      {
-        "hooks": [
-          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/synthesis-preflight.sh", "timeout": 8 },
-          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/cwd-state-injector.sh", "timeout": 8 },
-          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/vestige-pulse-daemon.sh", "timeout": 6 },
-          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/preflight-swarm.sh", "timeout": 45 }
-        ]
-      }
-    ]
-  }
-}
+{}
diff --git a/hooks/settings.preflight.fragment.json b/hooks/settings.preflight.fragment.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7a0d829
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hooks/settings.preflight.fragment.json
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{
+  "hooks": {
+    "UserPromptSubmit": [
+      {
+        "hooks": [
+          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/synthesis-preflight.sh", "timeout": 8 },
+          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/cwd-state-injector.sh", "timeout": 8 },
+          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/vestige-pulse-daemon.sh", "timeout": 6 },
+          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/preflight-swarm.sh", "timeout": 45 }
+        ]
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}
diff --git a/hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json b/hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json
index 21dafc5..893d427 100644
--- a/hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json
+++ b/hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json
@@ -1,15 +1,5 @@
 {
   "hooks": {
-    "UserPromptSubmit": [
-      {
-        "hooks": [
-          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/synthesis-preflight.sh", "timeout": 8 },
-          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/cwd-state-injector.sh", "timeout": 8 },
-          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/vestige-pulse-daemon.sh", "timeout": 6 },
-          { "type": "command", "command": "$HOME/.claude/hooks/preflight-swarm.sh", "timeout": 45 }
-        ]
-      }
-    ],
     "Stop": [
       {
         "hooks": [
diff --git a/scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh b/scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh
index 1e5f4b7..b6f3509 100755
--- a/scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh
+++ b/scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh
@@ -8,19 +8,22 @@ miss() { printf '  \033[1;31m[MISS]\033[0m %s\n' "$*"; FAIL=1; }
 info() { printf '  \033[1;36m[INFO]\033[0m %s\n' "$*"; }
 
 FAIL=0
+CHECK_PREFLIGHT=0
 CHECK_SANHEDRIN=0
 DASHBOARD_PORT="${VESTIGE_DASHBOARD_PORT:-3927}"
 SANHEDRIN_ENV="${VESTIGE_SANHEDRIN_ENV:-$HOME/.claude/hooks/vestige-sanhedrin.env}"
 
 for arg in "$@"; do
   case "$arg" in
+    --preflight|--enable-preflight) CHECK_PREFLIGHT=1 ;;
     --sanhedrin|--enable-sanhedrin) CHECK_SANHEDRIN=1 ;;
     -h|--help)
       cat <<'EOF'
-Usage: scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh [--sanhedrin]
+Usage: scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh [--preflight] [--sanhedrin]
 
-Without flags, checks the default Cognitive Sandwich preflight hooks.
-With --sanhedrin, also checks the optional OpenAI-compatible verifier endpoint.
+Without flags, verifies that the default install has no Vestige hooks wired.
+With --preflight, checks the optional UserPromptSubmit hook layer.
+With --sanhedrin, checks the optional OpenAI-compatible verifier endpoint.
 EOF
       exit 0
       ;;
@@ -64,31 +67,40 @@ fi
 
 # CLI tools
 command -v jq            >/dev/null && ok "jq"            || miss "jq missing — brew install jq"
-command -v claude        >/dev/null && ok "claude CLI"    || miss "claude CLI — install Claude Code"
-command -v vestige-mcp   >/dev/null && ok "vestige-mcp"   || miss "vestige-mcp — cargo install vestige-mcp"
+if [ "$CHECK_PREFLIGHT" -eq 1 ]; then
+  command -v claude        >/dev/null && ok "claude CLI"    || miss "claude CLI — install Claude Code"
+  command -v vestige-mcp   >/dev/null && ok "vestige-mcp"   || miss "vestige-mcp — cargo install vestige-mcp"
 
-# Vestige MCP HTTP API
-if curl -fsS -m 2 "http://127.0.0.1:${DASHBOARD_PORT}/api/health" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  ok "vestige-mcp dashboard responding on :$DASHBOARD_PORT"
-else
-  warn "vestige-mcp dashboard not responding on :$DASHBOARD_PORT"
+  # Vestige MCP HTTP API
+  if curl -fsS -m 2 "http://127.0.0.1:${DASHBOARD_PORT}/api/health" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    ok "vestige-mcp dashboard responding on :$DASHBOARD_PORT"
+  else
+    warn "vestige-mcp dashboard not responding on :$DASHBOARD_PORT"
+  fi
 fi
 
 # Settings hook wiring
-if [ -f "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" ] && \
-   jq -e '.hooks.UserPromptSubmit' "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  ok "settings.json UserPromptSubmit hooks present"
-else
-  warn "settings.json missing UserPromptSubmit hooks — run: install-sandwich.sh"
+if [ "$CHECK_PREFLIGHT" -eq 0 ] && [ "$CHECK_SANHEDRIN" -eq 0 ]; then
+  if [ -f "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" ] && \
+     jq -e 'any((.hooks.UserPromptSubmit[]?.hooks[]?, .hooks.Stop[]?.hooks[]?); ((.command? // "") | test("synthesis-preflight\\.sh|cwd-state-injector\\.sh|vestige-pulse-daemon\\.sh|preflight-swarm\\.sh|load-all-memory\\.sh|veto-detector\\.sh|sanhedrin\\.sh|synthesis-stop-validator\\.sh|synthesis-gate\\.sh")))' "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    warn "Vestige hooks are still wired; run: install-sandwich.sh --force"
+  else
+    ok "no Vestige Claude Code hooks wired by default"
+  fi
 fi
 
-if [ "$CHECK_SANHEDRIN" -eq 0 ]; then
+if [ "$CHECK_PREFLIGHT" -eq 1 ]; then
+  echo
+  echo "Optional Preflight"
+
   if [ -f "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" ] && \
-     jq -e 'any(.hooks.Stop[]?.hooks[]?; ((.command? // "") | contains("/.claude/hooks/veto-detector.sh") or contains("/.claude/hooks/sanhedrin.sh") or contains("/.claude/hooks/synthesis-stop-validator.sh")))' "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    warn "Vestige Stop hooks are still wired; run: install-sandwich.sh --force"
+     jq -e 'any(.hooks.UserPromptSubmit[]?.hooks[]?; ((.command? // "") | contains("synthesis-preflight.sh"))) and any(.hooks.UserPromptSubmit[]?.hooks[]?; ((.command? // "") | contains("preflight-swarm.sh")))' "$HOME/.claude/settings.json" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    ok "preflight UserPromptSubmit hooks wired"
   else
-    ok "no Vestige Stop hooks wired by default"
+    warn "preflight hooks not wired — run: install-sandwich.sh --enable-preflight"
   fi
+
+  info "preflight-swarm.sh uses claude -p with Haiku when enabled; default installs do not wire it."
 fi
 
 if [ "$CHECK_SANHEDRIN" -eq 1 ]; then
@@ -143,7 +155,7 @@ fi
 
 echo
 if [ $FAIL -eq 0 ]; then
-  echo "  Ready. Default preflight hooks will fire on next Claude Code prompt; no Vestige Stop hooks are wired."
+  echo "  Ready. Default install has no Vestige Claude Code hooks wired and makes no automatic model calls."
   exit 0
 else
   echo "  Fix the items above, then re-run."
diff --git a/scripts/install-sandwich.sh b/scripts/install-sandwich.sh
index 4f1a331..ba3fb99 100755
--- a/scripts/install-sandwich.sh
+++ b/scripts/install-sandwich.sh
@@ -4,15 +4,15 @@
 # Usage:
 #   curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/samvallad33/vestige/v2.1.0/scripts/install-sandwich.sh | sh
 #   # or, from a checkout:
-#   ./scripts/install-sandwich.sh [--force] [--enable-sanhedrin] [--with-launchd] [--include-memory-loader]
+#   ./scripts/install-sandwich.sh [--force] [--enable-preflight] [--enable-sanhedrin] [--with-launchd] [--include-memory-loader]
 #   ./scripts/install-sandwich.sh --enable-sanhedrin --sanhedrin-endpoint=http://127.0.0.1:11434/v1/chat/completions --sanhedrin-model=qwen2.5:14b
 #
 # What it does:
 #   1. Verifies required local tools
 #   2. Stages ~/.claude/hooks/ and ~/.claude/agents/
 #   3. Copies sanitized hooks + agents
-#   4. Merges the default UserPromptSubmit hooks into ~/.claude/settings.json
-#   5. Optionally enables Sanhedrin and, only with --with-launchd on Apple Silicon,
+#   4. Removes old Vestige hook wiring from ~/.claude/settings.json by default
+#   5. Optionally enables preflight hooks and/or Sanhedrin. Only with --with-launchd on Apple Silicon,
 #      auto-starts mlx_lm.server with Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
 
 set -euo pipefail
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ LAUNCHD_DIR="$HOME/Library/LaunchAgents"
 SETTINGS="$HOME/.claude/settings.json"
 
 FORCE=0
+ENABLE_PREFLIGHT=0
 ENABLE_SANHEDRIN=0
 WITH_LAUNCHD=0
 INCLUDE_MEMORY_LOADER=0
@@ -39,6 +40,8 @@ SRC=""
 for arg in "$@"; do
   case "$arg" in
     --force) FORCE=1 ;;
+    --enable-preflight) ENABLE_PREFLIGHT=1 ;;
+    --enable-sandwich) ENABLE_PREFLIGHT=1; ENABLE_SANHEDRIN=1 ;;
     --enable-sanhedrin) ENABLE_SANHEDRIN=1 ;;
     --with-launchd) WITH_LAUNCHD=1 ;;
     --no-launchd) WITH_LAUNCHD=0 ;;
@@ -83,8 +86,10 @@ fi
 # --- Prereqs (warnings only, install proceeds) ---
 command -v jq      >/dev/null || die "jq required: brew install jq"
 command -v python3 >/dev/null || die "python3 required (3.10+)"
-command -v claude  >/dev/null || warn "'claude' CLI not found — install Claude Code first."
-command -v vestige-mcp >/dev/null || warn "'vestige-mcp' not found — install with: cargo install vestige-mcp"
+if [ "$ENABLE_PREFLIGHT" -eq 1 ]; then
+  command -v claude  >/dev/null || warn "'claude' CLI not found — preflight-swarm.sh will fail open."
+  command -v vestige-mcp >/dev/null || warn "'vestige-mcp' not found — Vestige preflight hooks will fail open."
+fi
 if [ "$WITH_LAUNCHD" -eq 1 ]; then
   command -v uv      >/dev/null || warn "'uv' not found — install with: brew install uv"
   command -v mlx_lm.server >/dev/null || warn "mlx-lm not installed — run: uv tool install mlx-lm"
@@ -191,51 +196,72 @@ else
   cp "$SETTINGS" "$HOME/.claude/settings.json.bak.pre-sandwich"
 fi
 TMP_MERGE="$(mktemp)"
-SETTINGS_FRAGMENT="$SCRIPT_DIR/hooks/settings.fragment.json"
-if [ "$ENABLE_SANHEDRIN" -eq 1 ]; then
-  SETTINGS_FRAGMENT="$SCRIPT_DIR/hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json"
+PREFLIGHT_FRAGMENT="$SCRIPT_DIR/hooks/settings.fragment.json"
+SANHEDRIN_FRAGMENT="$SCRIPT_DIR/hooks/settings.fragment.json"
+if [ "$ENABLE_PREFLIGHT" -eq 1 ]; then
+  PREFLIGHT_FRAGMENT="$SCRIPT_DIR/hooks/settings.preflight.fragment.json"
 fi
-jq -s --arg enable_sanhedrin "$ENABLE_SANHEDRIN" '
-  def is_vestige_stop:
-    (.command? // "") as $cmd
-    | ($cmd | contains("/.claude/hooks/veto-detector.sh"))
-      or ($cmd | contains("/.claude/hooks/sanhedrin.sh"))
-      or ($cmd | contains("/.claude/hooks/synthesis-stop-validator.sh"));
-
-  .[0] * .[1]
-  | if $enable_sanhedrin == "1" then
-      .
-    else
-      .hooks.Stop = (
-        (.hooks.Stop // [])
-        | map(.hooks = ((.hooks // []) | map(select((is_vestige_stop | not)))))
-        | map(select(((.hooks // []) | length) > 0))
-      )
-      | if ((.hooks.Stop // []) | length) == 0 then del(.hooks.Stop) else . end
-    end
-' "$SETTINGS" "$SETTINGS_FRAGMENT" > "$TMP_MERGE"
-mv "$TMP_MERGE" "$SETTINGS"
 if [ "$ENABLE_SANHEDRIN" -eq 1 ]; then
-  say "merged hooks block into $SETTINGS with Sanhedrin Stop hook enabled (backup at .bak.pre-sandwich)"
+  SANHEDRIN_FRAGMENT="$SCRIPT_DIR/hooks/settings.sanhedrin.fragment.json"
+fi
+jq -s '
+  def is_vestige_hook:
+    (.command? // "") as $cmd
+    | [
+        "synthesis-preflight.sh",
+        "cwd-state-injector.sh",
+        "vestige-pulse-daemon.sh",
+        "preflight-swarm.sh",
+        "load-all-memory.sh",
+        "veto-detector.sh",
+        "sanhedrin.sh",
+        "synthesis-stop-validator.sh",
+        "synthesis-gate.sh"
+      ] | any(. as $needle | $cmd | contains($needle));
+
+  def scrub_vestige_hooks:
+    .hooks.UserPromptSubmit = (
+      (.hooks.UserPromptSubmit // [])
+      | map(.hooks = ((.hooks // []) | map(select((is_vestige_hook | not)))))
+      | map(select(((.hooks // []) | length) > 0))
+    )
+    | if ((.hooks.UserPromptSubmit // []) | length) == 0 then del(.hooks.UserPromptSubmit) else . end
+    | .hooks.Stop = (
+      (.hooks.Stop // [])
+      | map(.hooks = ((.hooks // []) | map(select((is_vestige_hook | not)))))
+      | map(select(((.hooks // []) | length) > 0))
+    )
+    | if ((.hooks.Stop // []) | length) == 0 then del(.hooks.Stop) else . end
+    | if ((.hooks // {}) | length) == 0 then del(.hooks) else . end;
+
+  (.[0] | scrub_vestige_hooks) * .[1] * .[2]
+' "$SETTINGS" "$PREFLIGHT_FRAGMENT" "$SANHEDRIN_FRAGMENT" > "$TMP_MERGE"
+mv "$TMP_MERGE" "$SETTINGS"
+if [ "$ENABLE_PREFLIGHT" -eq 1 ] || [ "$ENABLE_SANHEDRIN" -eq 1 ]; then
+  enabled_layers=""
+  [ "$ENABLE_PREFLIGHT" -eq 1 ] && enabled_layers="${enabled_layers} preflight"
+  [ "$ENABLE_SANHEDRIN" -eq 1 ] && enabled_layers="${enabled_layers} sanhedrin"
+  say "merged optional hook layer(s) into $SETTINGS:${enabled_layers} (backup at .bak.pre-sandwich)"
 else
-  say "merged default preflight hooks into $SETTINGS; no Vestige Stop hooks are installed (backup at .bak.pre-sandwich)"
+  say "removed Vestige hook wiring from $SETTINGS; default install activates no Claude Code hooks (backup at .bak.pre-sandwich)"
 fi
 
 # --- Next steps ---
 cat <<EOF
 
   ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
-  │  Cognitive Sandwich preflight hooks installed.                 │
+  │  Cognitive Sandwich files installed. No hooks enabled by default. │
   └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
 
   Next steps:
-    1. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new hooks.
-       Default installs include no Vestige Stop hooks.
+    1. Restart Claude Code if you enabled optional hooks.
+       Default installs activate no Vestige Claude Code hooks and make no model calls.
     2. Verify the install:
          vestige health                 # if vestige CLI installed
          curl http://127.0.0.1:$DASHBOARD_PORT/api/health
          scripts/check-sandwich-prereqs.sh   # from a checkout
-    3. Optional Sanhedrin verifier:
+    3. Optional hook layers:
+         ./scripts/install-sandwich.sh --enable-preflight
          ./scripts/install-sandwich.sh --enable-sanhedrin --sanhedrin-endpoint=$SANHEDRIN_ENDPOINT --sanhedrin-model=$MODEL_ID
        On Apple Silicon with >20 GB free RAM, add --with-launchd to auto-start
        the local MLX Qwen server. On x86, point --sanhedrin-endpoint at vLLM,