Refine caption display and final prompt experiments

engine_distribute.py

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def run_distribution(in_queue, args):
             speaker_label = payload.get('speaker')
             speaker_prefix = f"[{speaker_label}]: " if speaker_label else ""
             
-            msg = f"\n[Final]: {speaker_prefix}{payload.get('original', '')}"
+            msg = f"[Final]: {speaker_prefix}{payload.get('original', '')}"
             print(msg, flush=True)
             log_debug(msg)
 
@@ -73,9 +73,13 @@ def run_distribution(in_queue, args):
                 log_debug(llm_line_msg)
 
             if payload.get("used_llm_paragraph") and paragraph_text:
+                print("", flush=True)
+                log_debug("")
                 llm_paragraph_msg = f"[LLM-PARAGRAPH]: {speaker_prefix}{paragraph_text}"
                 print(llm_paragraph_msg, flush=True)
                 log_debug(llm_paragraph_msg)
+                print("", flush=True)
+                log_debug("")
 
             if payload.get("paragraph_fallback") and paragraph_text:
                 paragraph_msg = f"[PARAGRAPH]: {speaker_prefix}{paragraph_text}"

history.md

@@ -307,3 +307,11 @@ The project now features a high-performance, Apple Silicon-optimized pipeline th
     - Tightened the live paragraph system prompt in `engine_llm.py` so output must stay English-only, non-English fragments should not be copied through, isolated trailing foreign fragments should be dropped, and only clearly central foreign content should be translated into English.
     - Added paragraph-specific generation controls to `main_v2.py` and `config.json` so paragraph tuning can evolve independently of line-correction behavior.
 - **Outcome:** Paragraph refinement is now stricter about keeping the final output in English while preserving the more grounded context layout and the best-tested Ollama generation settings.
+
+## Phase 35: Previous-Context Scope + Previous-Source Final Check
+- **Goal:** Decide whether the paragraph refiner should keep receiving previous source text when experimenting with multiple prior refined paragraphs as context.
+- **Approach:**
+    - Extended `prompt_experiments.py` to compare `2` and `4` previous refined paragraphs with and without `PREVIOUS SOURCE TEXT`.
+    - Ran the final focused comparison on later reconstructed samples using deterministic generation (`temperature=0.0`) to minimize sampling noise.
+    - Compared the resulting tradeoffs in unsupported content, repetition, and output length instead of looking only at one-off wins.
+- **Outcome:** Keeping `PREVIOUS SOURCE TEXT` remains the safer choice. The best result from this final sweep was `2` previous refined paragraphs plus previous source text; removing previous source text consistently hurt grounding, while larger refined-context windows increased drift risk.

prompt_experiments.py

@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ def reconstruct_samples(path):
     samples = []
     rows = parse_distribute_debug_log(path)
     previous_llm = ""
+    previous_llm_history = []
     pending_bridges = []
     recent_raw_windows = []
 
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ def reconstruct_samples(path):
         samples.append(
             {
                 "previous_refined": previous_llm,
+                "previous_refined_history": list(previous_llm_history),
                 "previous_raw": prev_raw,
                 "new_raw": new_raw,
                 "observed_output": llm_output,
@@ -67,6 +69,7 @@ def reconstruct_samples(path):
         )
 
         previous_llm = llm_output
+        previous_llm_history.append(llm_output)
         recent_raw_windows.append(new_raw)
         pending_bridges = []
 
@@ -107,6 +110,7 @@ def maybe_augment_samples(samples, mode):
 
 def build_variants(sample, variant_filter=None):
     prev_refined = sample["previous_refined"]
+    prev_refined_history = sample.get("previous_refined_history", [])
     prev_raw = sample["previous_raw"]
     new_raw = sample["new_raw"]
 
@@ -354,6 +358,79 @@ Decision rules:
 """
     variants.append(("grounded_new_dominant_dedupe", system_f, user_f))
 
+    for window_size in [2, 4, 6, 8, 10]:
+        context_window = "\n\n".join(prev_refined_history[-window_size:]).strip()
+        system_ctx = """You are a careful live transcript editor working from noisy translated source text.
+
+Goal:
+Produce the most faithful readable English update.
+
+Decision rules:
+1. NEW SOURCE TEXT is the primary evidence and should dominate the output.
+2. Use PREVIOUS REFINED CONTEXT and PREVIOUS SOURCE TEXT only when they clearly help resolve or continue the new material.
+3. The final answer must be English only.
+4. Never copy non-English words into the output unless they are proper names.
+5. If a non-English fragment appears as an isolated clause, trailing fragment, or side comment without a clear English anchor, drop it.
+6. Only translate a non-English fragment when it is clearly central to the same idea and its meaning is reasonably obvious from context.
+7. If the new material starts a fresh thought, output only the new material.
+8. Remove exact or near-exact repetition unless the repetition is clearly intentional rhetoric.
+9. Do not add explanations, disclaimers, or meta commentary.
+10. Prefer conservative wording over guessed meaning.
+11. Return only the revised transcript text."""
+        user_ctx = f"""Edit this transcript update.
+
+[PREVIOUS REFINED CONTEXT WINDOW]
+{context_window}
+
+[PREVIOUS SOURCE TEXT]
+"{prev_raw}"
+
+[NEW SOURCE TEXT]
+"{new_raw}"
+        """
+        variants.append((f"grounded_ctx{window_size}", system_ctx, user_ctx))
+
+        if window_size in (2, 4):
+            user_ctx_no_prev_source = f"""Edit this transcript update.
+
+[PREVIOUS REFINED CONTEXT WINDOW]
+{context_window}
+
+[NEW SOURCE TEXT]
+"{new_raw}"
+"""
+            variants.append((f"grounded_ctx{window_size}_no_prev_source", system_ctx, user_ctx_no_prev_source))
+
+        system_ctx_repair = """You are a careful live transcript editor working from noisy translated source text.
+
+Goal:
+Produce the most faithful readable English update.
+
+Decision rules:
+1. NEW SOURCE TEXT is the primary evidence and should dominate the output.
+2. Use PREVIOUS REFINED CONTEXT and PREVIOUS SOURCE TEXT only when they clearly help resolve or continue the new material.
+3. The final answer must be English only.
+4. Never copy non-English words into the output unless they are proper names.
+5. If a non-English fragment appears as an isolated clause, trailing fragment, or side comment without a clear English anchor, drop it.
+6. Correct likely caption-word mistakes only when the surrounding context makes the intended English wording reasonably clear.
+7. If a word or phrase is unclear, keep it conservative instead of guessing.
+8. If the new material starts a fresh thought, output only the new material.
+9. Remove exact or near-exact repetition unless the repetition is clearly intentional rhetoric.
+10. Do not add explanations, disclaimers, or meta commentary.
+11. Return only the revised transcript text."""
+        user_ctx_repair = f"""Edit this transcript update.
+
+[PREVIOUS REFINED CONTEXT WINDOW]
+{context_window}
+
+[PREVIOUS SOURCE TEXT]
+"{prev_raw}"
+
+[NEW SOURCE TEXT]
+"{new_raw}"
+"""
+        variants.append((f"grounded_repair_ctx{window_size}", system_ctx_repair, user_ctx_repair))
+
     if variant_filter:
         allowed = set(x.strip() for x in variant_filter.split(",") if x.strip())
         variants = [variant for variant in variants if variant[0] in allowed]
@@ -468,6 +545,8 @@ def build_param_sets(args):
 def run_experiments(args):
     samples = reconstruct_samples(args.log_file)
     samples = maybe_augment_samples(samples, args.sample_mode)
+    if args.start_index:
+        samples = samples[args.start_index:]
     if args.limit:
         samples = samples[: args.limit]
 
@@ -554,6 +633,7 @@ def main():
     parser.add_argument("--timeout", type=float, default=40.0)
     parser.add_argument("--keep-alive", type=str, default="30m")
     parser.add_argument("--limit", type=int, default=0)
+    parser.add_argument("--start-index", type=int, default=0)
     parser.add_argument("--output-file", type=str, default="logs/prompt_experiment_results.json")
     parser.add_argument("--variant-filter", type=str, default="", help="Comma-separated subset of variants to run.")
     parser.add_argument("--temperature-grid", type=str, default="", help="Comma-separated temperatures to test.")