# BRIEFING — 2026-10-01T02:51:00Z

## Mission
Analyze test suite alignment, unit test coverage, and verification plan for Milestone M2 (LevelProgressionService & Death Penalty).

## 🔒 My Identity
- Archetype: explorer
- Roles: teamwork_preview_explorer
- Working directory: c:\Projects\FreeExile\.agents\teamwork\explorer_m2_progression_3
- Original parent: 6f4a2aa2-4315-4660-8cb7-8352a7220c95
- Milestone: M2 (LevelProgressionService & Death Penalty)

## 🔒 Key Constraints
- Read-only investigation — do NOT implement
- Do not modify source code
- Files for content delivery, messages for coordination
- Self-contained handoff with 5-component structure

## Current Parent
- Conversation ID: 6f4a2aa2-4315-4660-8cb7-8352a7220c95
- Updated: not yet

## Investigation State
- **Explored paths**:
  * `tests/e2e/test_level_progression_e2e.py`: Feature F01-F08 test suite, boundary cases, cross-feature combinations, scenarios.
  * `server/world/level_progression_curve.py`: 7-segment piecewise EXP curve and benchmark calculations.
  * `server/world/game_design_matrix_service.py`: SQLite matrix benchmark queries and migrations.
  * `tests/unit/test_game_design_matrix.py`: Existing unit tests for matrix services.
- **Key findings**:
  * In `tests/e2e/test_level_progression_e2e.py`, F03 and F04 currently evaluate against local module-level oracles (`calc_level_gap_decay`, `calc_death_penalty_ratio`) and pass.
  * F05 (`test_f05_award_monster_exp_contract`, `test_f05_level_up_awards_stats_and_passives`, `test_f05_apply_death_penalty_contract`) imports `LevelProgressionService` directly and is marked `@pytest.mark.xfail(strict=False)`.
  * CRITICAL API SIGNATURE MISMATCH: In `tests/e2e/test_level_progression_e2e.py` lines 222 & 231, `award_monster_exp` is called with positional parameters `("p1", 80, 80, 1000)` where arg3=zone_level (80) and arg4=base_exp (1000). In `PROJECT.md`, arg3 was listed as `base_exp` and arg4 as `zone_level`. The service must flexibly support both parameter orders.
  * DTO ALIAS MISMATCH: E2E tests check `res.effective_exp` and `res.level_up_occurred` on `ExpAwardResult`, and `res.new_exp` on `DeathPenaltyResult`. DTOs must provide property aliases for both naming conventions (`effective_exp` / `exp_awarded`, `level_up_occurred` / `leveled_up`, `new_exp` / `current_exp_after`).
  * DEATH PENALTY FORMULA: Spec §R2 states penalty is a percentage of current level's EXP bar (`delta_exp * ratio`), clamped to `current_exp`, never de-leveling.
- **Unexplored areas**: None for M2 scope; all dependencies, schemas, and test expectations verified.

## Key Decisions Made
- Fully designed dedicated unit test suite: `tests/unit/test_level_progression_service.py` across 5 test classes and 26 test methods covering transitions, cap at 100, level gap decay precision, tiered death penalty, and interface polymorphism.
- Defined 6-step verification workflow for Worker M2 and Reviewers.

## Artifact Index
- DISPATCH.md — Log of dispatch instructions
- progress.md — Liveness heartbeat and step tracking
- report.md — Comprehensive test suite alignment and verification plan
- handoff.md — 5-component handoff report