Fox caught on 2026-04-29: 'who is batman?' and 'who is the batman?' produced
different cache_keys despite question_hash collapsing both variants. The 8-dim
cache_key has TWO seams that touch question text — question_hash AND
conversation_hash (which hashes the messages list with the literal question
in the user turn). Only the former canonicalized; the latter took bytes as
written, so each variant got its own chash and missed cache.
Fix: decouple the two forms.
- aborist/qa/keys.py: extract canonical_question(text) → str; question_hash
composes _sha256(canonical_question(t)) so the equivalence class is
defined in one place.
- aborist/qa/query.py + aborist/qa/runner.py: build TWO message lists per
call. `messages` carries the verbatim question (Hermes sees the user's
natural phrasing — no grammar drift). `canonical_messages` substitutes
the canonical form, and conversation_hash hashes that. The LLM still
gets 'Who Is THE Batman?'; the cache_key collapses to 'who is batman'.
- tests/test_query.py: regression — three variants (with/without `?`,
with/without `the`) hit the same cache_key. First call populates,
later variants cache_hit. Captures stub messages to confirm the LLM
saw the verbatim question, not the canonical form.
437 tests pass.
russell@unturf.com
e3cbe3bb37