diff --git a/src/__tests__/ai-reasoning-admin-guard.test.ts b/src/__tests__/ai-reasoning-admin-guard.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f40ab3103
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/__tests__/ai-reasoning-admin-guard.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+/**
+ * v1.41 — the operator's reasoning switch and cap cannot be bypassed.
+ *
+ * Two halves.
+ *
+ * Behaviour: `resolveReasoning` is the one decision. With the switch off it
+ * answers `off` for the Coach and every background job, whatever the person
+ * chose, whoever pays and whatever the provider can do; with it on, no answer
+ * is above the cap. Proven exhaustively over the whole input space.
+ *
+ * Structure: a call carries reasoning only through `CompletionParams.reasoning`.
+ * Every production file outside the provider clients that puts that key on a
+ * call must take its value from the resolver (`@/lib/ai/reasoning/resolve` or
+ * `@/lib/ai/reasoning/controls`). A file that hand-built `{ effort: "high" }`
+ * would skip the switch, and goes red here.
+ *
+ * Its limit: the structural half reads source text for the setter shapes in
+ * use (`reasoning: { effort`, `{ reasoning }`, `reasoning: completionReasoning(`,
+ * `reasoning: resolveJobReasoning(`). A value laundered through another name
+ * slips it; the resolver import is still required of the file that sets it.
+ *
+ * Mutation check: replace `resolveJobReasoning(...)` in `status-provider.ts`
+ * with `{ effort: "high", summaries: false }` and drop the import: red.
+ */
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import {
+  BACKGROUND_REASONING_JOBS,
+  REASONING_LEVELS,
+  REASONING_MAX_EFFORTS,
+} from "@/lib/ai/reasoning/levels";
+import {
+  completionReasoning,
+  resolveReasoning,
+  type ReasoningSurface,
+} from "@/lib/ai/reasoning/resolve";
+
+import { walkSourceFiles } from "./helpers/source-files";
+
+const SRC = join(process.cwd(), "src");
+
+const SURFACES: ReasoningSurface[] = ["coach", ...BACKGROUND_REASONING_JOBS];
+
+describe("the switch and the cap win, behaviourally", () => {
+  const supports = [
+    null,
+    {
+      effort: true,
+      summaries: true,
+      liveSummaries: true,
+      stateRoundTrip: true,
+      offIsReal: false,
+    },
+  ];
+
+  it("off reaches no surface as anything but off", () => {
+    let cases = 0;
+    for (const surface of SURFACES)
+      for (const userPref of REASONING_LEVELS)
+        for (const costOwner of ["user", "operator"] as const)
+          for (const support of supports) {
+            const r = resolveReasoning({
+              surface,
+              userPref,
+              admin: { enabled: false, maxEffort: "high" },
+              costOwner,
+              support,
+            });
+            expect(r.effort).toBe("off");
+            expect(r.source).toBe("admin_off");
+            const sent = completionReasoning(r, surface);
+            // A job sends nothing; the Coach sends an explicit off.
+            if (surface === "coach") {
+              expect(sent).toEqual({ effort: "off", summaries: false });
+            } else {
+              expect(sent).toBeUndefined();
+            }
+            cases++;
+          }
+    expect(cases).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(100);
+  });
+
+  it("no surface ever resolves above the cap", () => {
+    for (const surface of SURFACES)
+      for (const userPref of REASONING_LEVELS)
+        for (const maxEffort of REASONING_MAX_EFFORTS) {
+          const r = resolveReasoning({
+            surface,
+            userPref,
+            admin: { enabled: true, maxEffort },
+            costOwner: "user",
+          });
+          expect(REASONING_LEVELS.indexOf(r.effort)).toBeLessThanOrEqual(
+            REASONING_LEVELS.indexOf(maxEffort),
+          );
+        }
+  });
+});
+
+/** The provider clients map an already-resolved value onto their wire. */
+const WIRE_LAYER = (rel: string) =>
+  /^lib\/ai\/[a-z-]+-client\.ts$/.test(rel) ||
+  rel === "lib/ai/provider-runner.ts" ||
+  rel.startsWith("lib/ai/reasoning/");
+
+const SETTERS = [
+  /\breasoning\s*:\s*\{\s*effort\b/,
+  /\{\s*reasoning\s*\}/,
+  /\breasoning\s*:\s*(?:completionReasoning|resolveJobReasoning)\s*\(/,
+];
+
+const RESOLVER_IMPORT =
+  /from\s+["']@\/lib\/ai\/reasoning\/(?:resolve|controls)["']/;
+
+function stripComments(source: string): string {
+  return source
+    .replace(/\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\//g, "")
+    .replace(/(^|[^:])\/\/.*$/gm, "$1");
+}
+
+describe("every call that carries reasoning took it from the resolver", () => {
+  const files = walkSourceFiles(SRC, { floor: 3000 })
+    .filter((p) => !p.startsWith("generated/"))
+    .filter((p) => !p.includes("__tests__"))
+    .filter((p) => !p.endsWith(".test.ts") && !p.endsWith(".test.tsx"))
+    // Client components bind a form field called `reasoning`, not a call.
+    .filter((p) => !p.startsWith("components/"))
+    .filter((p) => !WIRE_LAYER(p));
+  const setters = files.filter((rel) => {
+    const code = stripComments(readFileSync(join(SRC, rel), "utf8"));
+    return SETTERS.some((re) => re.test(code));
+  });
+
+  it("finds the setters (an empty set is a failure, not a pass)", () => {
+    expect(setters.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2);
+    expect(setters).toContain("lib/insights/status-provider.ts");
+    expect(setters).toContain("lib/insights/briefing-provider.ts");
+  });
+
+  it("each one imports the resolver", () => {
+    expect(
+      setters.filter(
+        (rel) => !RESOLVER_IMPORT.test(readFileSync(join(SRC, rel), "utf8")),
+      ),
+      "A call carries reasoning that did not come from resolveReasoning, so the operator's switch and cap do not reach it.",
+    ).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/ai/provider.ts b/src/lib/ai/provider.ts
index 4f28958f1..847a9c442 100644
--- a/src/lib/ai/provider.ts
+++ b/src/lib/ai/provider.ts
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ function buildUserProvider(row: UserAIRow): AIProvider | null {
  * An unparseable value answers false and keeps the OpenAI path, which is the
  * behaviour that value had before this function existed.
  */
-function isAnthropicBaseUrl(baseUrl: string): boolean {
+export function isAnthropicBaseUrl(baseUrl: string): boolean {
   let host: string;
   try {
     host = new URL(baseUrl).hostname.toLowerCase();
diff --git a/src/lib/ai/reasoning/__tests__/resolve.test.ts b/src/lib/ai/reasoning/__tests__/resolve.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bfdc33372
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/ai/reasoning/__tests__/resolve.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,318 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import {
+  BACKGROUND_REASONING_JOBS,
+  REASONING_LEVELS,
+  REASONING_MAX_EFFORTS,
+} from "../levels";
+import {
+  coachReasoningCeiling,
+  completionReasoning,
+  parseReasoningMaxEffort,
+  reasoningSupportForChainEntry,
+  resolveReasoning,
+  type ReasoningSurface,
+} from "../resolve";
+import type { ReasoningSupport } from "../support";
+
+const ON = { enabled: true, maxEffort: "high" } as const;
+const FULL: ReasoningSupport = {
+  effort: true,
+  summaries: true,
+  liveSummaries: true,
+  stateRoundTrip: true,
+  offIsReal: true,
+};
+const NO_REASONING: ReasoningSupport = { ...FULL, effort: false };
+const SURFACES: ReasoningSurface[] = ["coach", ...BACKGROUND_REASONING_JOBS];
+const rank = (l: string) => (REASONING_LEVELS as readonly string[]).indexOf(l);
+
+describe("resolveReasoning — the Coach", () => {
+  it("runs the person's level when nothing caps it", () => {
+    for (const pref of REASONING_LEVELS) {
+      expect(
+        resolveReasoning({
+          surface: "coach",
+          userPref: pref,
+          admin: ON,
+          costOwner: "user",
+          support: FULL,
+        }),
+      ).toEqual({ effort: pref, summaries: pref !== "off", source: "user" });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("defaults a person who never chose to medium", () => {
+    const r = resolveReasoning({
+      surface: "coach",
+      admin: ON,
+      costOwner: "user",
+    });
+    expect(r).toEqual({ effort: "medium", summaries: true, source: "user" });
+  });
+
+  it("clamps the person's level to the operator's cap", () => {
+    const r = resolveReasoning({
+      surface: "coach",
+      userPref: "high",
+      admin: { enabled: true, maxEffort: "low" },
+      costOwner: "user",
+      support: FULL,
+    });
+    expect(r).toEqual({ effort: "low", summaries: true, source: "admin_cap" });
+  });
+
+  it("holds an operator-funded turn to medium", () => {
+    const r = resolveReasoning({
+      surface: "coach",
+      userPref: "high",
+      admin: ON,
+      costOwner: "operator",
+      support: FULL,
+    });
+    expect(r).toEqual({
+      effort: "medium",
+      summaries: true,
+      source: "cost_cap",
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("names the operator's cap when it is the lower of the two", () => {
+    const r = resolveReasoning({
+      surface: "coach",
+      userPref: "high",
+      admin: { enabled: true, maxEffort: "low" },
+      costOwner: "operator",
+    });
+    expect(r.source).toBe("admin_cap");
+    expect(r.effort).toBe("low");
+  });
+
+  it("asks for no summaries where the provider gives none", () => {
+    const r = resolveReasoning({
+      surface: "coach",
+      userPref: "medium",
+      admin: ON,
+      costOwner: "user",
+      support: { ...FULL, summaries: false },
+    });
+    expect(r.summaries).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("is off for a provider that cannot reason", () => {
+    const r = resolveReasoning({
+      surface: "coach",
+      userPref: "high",
+      admin: ON,
+      costOwner: "user",
+      support: NO_REASONING,
+    });
+    expect(r).toEqual({
+      effort: "off",
+      summaries: false,
+      source: "unsupported",
+    });
+  });
+});
+
+describe("resolveReasoning — background jobs", () => {
+  it("never reads the Coach preference", () => {
+    const r = resolveReasoning({
+      surface: "daily_briefing",
+      userPref: "off",
+      admin: ON,
+      costOwner: "user",
+    });
+    expect(r).toEqual({ effort: "medium", summaries: false, source: "job" });
+  });
+
+  it("takes the operator level when the operator pays", () => {
+    expect(
+      resolveReasoning({
+        surface: "daily_briefing",
+        admin: ON,
+        costOwner: "operator",
+      }).effort,
+    ).toBe("low");
+    expect(
+      resolveReasoning({
+        surface: "period_narrative_month",
+        admin: ON,
+        costOwner: "user",
+      }).effort,
+    ).toBe("medium");
+    expect(
+      resolveReasoning({
+        surface: "period_narrative_week",
+        admin: ON,
+        costOwner: "user",
+      }).effort,
+    ).toBe("low");
+  });
+
+  it("never asks a job for summaries", () => {
+    for (const job of BACKGROUND_REASONING_JOBS) {
+      expect(
+        resolveReasoning({
+          surface: job,
+          admin: ON,
+          costOwner: "user",
+          support: FULL,
+        }).summaries,
+      ).toBe(false);
+    }
+  });
+});
+
+describe("the operator's switch and cap win everywhere", () => {
+  const owners = ["user", "operator"] as const;
+  const supports = [null, FULL, NO_REASONING];
+  const prefs = [undefined, ...REASONING_LEVELS];
+
+  it("off is off on every surface, for every preference, payer and provider", () => {
+    let cases = 0;
+    for (const surface of SURFACES)
+      for (const userPref of prefs)
+        for (const costOwner of owners)
+          for (const support of supports)
+            for (const maxEffort of REASONING_MAX_EFFORTS) {
+              const r = resolveReasoning({
+                surface,
+                userPref,
+                admin: { enabled: false, maxEffort },
+                costOwner,
+                support,
+              });
+              expect(r).toEqual({
+                effort: "off",
+                summaries: false,
+                source: "admin_off",
+              });
+              cases++;
+            }
+    expect(cases).toBeGreaterThan(500);
+  });
+
+  it("no resolution ever exceeds the operator's cap", () => {
+    for (const surface of SURFACES)
+      for (const userPref of prefs)
+        for (const costOwner of owners)
+          for (const maxEffort of REASONING_MAX_EFFORTS) {
+            const r = resolveReasoning({
+              surface,
+              userPref,
+              admin: { enabled: true, maxEffort },
+              costOwner,
+              support: FULL,
+            });
+            expect(rank(r.effort)).toBeLessThanOrEqual(rank(maxEffort));
+            if (costOwner === "operator") {
+              expect(rank(r.effort)).toBeLessThanOrEqual(rank("medium"));
+            }
+          }
+  });
+
+  it("a job resolved off under the switch sends nothing at all", () => {
+    for (const job of BACKGROUND_REASONING_JOBS) {
+      const r = resolveReasoning({
+        surface: job,
+        admin: { enabled: false, maxEffort: "high" },
+        costOwner: "user",
+      });
+      expect(completionReasoning(r, job)).toBeUndefined();
+    }
+  });
+});
+
+describe("completionReasoning", () => {
+  it("sends the Coach's off explicitly, so a provider that can switch off does", () => {
+    const r = resolveReasoning({
+      surface: "coach",
+      userPref: "off",
+      admin: ON,
+      costOwner: "user",
+    });
+    expect(completionReasoning(r, "coach")).toEqual({
+      effort: "off",
+      summaries: false,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("sends nothing for a provider that cannot reason", () => {
+    const r = resolveReasoning({
+      surface: "coach",
+      userPref: "high",
+      admin: ON,
+      costOwner: "user",
+      support: NO_REASONING,
+    });
+    expect(completionReasoning(r, "coach")).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("carries a job's level without summaries", () => {
+    const r = resolveReasoning({
+      surface: "daily_briefing",
+      admin: ON,
+      costOwner: "user",
+    });
+    expect(completionReasoning(r, "daily_briefing")).toEqual({
+      effort: "medium",
+      summaries: false,
+    });
+  });
+});
+
+describe("coachReasoningCeiling", () => {
+  it("is off when switched off, the cap otherwise, medium at most for the operator", () => {
+    expect(
+      coachReasoningCeiling({ enabled: false, maxEffort: "high" }, "user"),
+    ).toBe("off");
+    expect(
+      coachReasoningCeiling({ enabled: true, maxEffort: "high" }, "user"),
+    ).toBe("high");
+    expect(
+      coachReasoningCeiling({ enabled: true, maxEffort: "high" }, "operator"),
+    ).toBe("medium");
+    expect(
+      coachReasoningCeiling({ enabled: true, maxEffort: "low" }, "operator"),
+    ).toBe("low");
+  });
+});
+
+describe("parseReasoningMaxEffort", () => {
+  it("keeps the three caps and reads anything else as no cap", () => {
+    expect(parseReasoningMaxEffort("low")).toBe("low");
+    expect(parseReasoningMaxEffort("medium")).toBe("medium");
+    expect(parseReasoningMaxEffort("off")).toBe("high");
+    expect(parseReasoningMaxEffort(null)).toBe("high");
+  });
+});
+
+describe("reasoningSupportForChainEntry", () => {
+  it("reads the client each chain tag builds", () => {
+    expect(reasoningSupportForChainEntry("codex", {}).effort).toBe(true);
+    expect(reasoningSupportForChainEntry("admin-codex", {}).effort).toBe(true);
+    // The OpenAI client's default model does not reason.
+    expect(reasoningSupportForChainEntry("openai", {}).effort).toBe(false);
+    expect(
+      reasoningSupportForChainEntry("openai", { model: "gpt-5" }).offIsReal,
+    ).toBe(false);
+    expect(
+      reasoningSupportForChainEntry("anthropic", { model: "claude-opus-5" })
+        .offIsReal,
+    ).toBe(false);
+    expect(
+      reasoningSupportForChainEntry("admin-openai", {
+        adminIsAnthropic: true,
+        adminModel: "claude-opus-5",
+      }).offIsReal,
+    ).toBe(false);
+    expect(
+      reasoningSupportForChainEntry("openai-compatible", {
+        compatModel: "x",
+        compatBaseUrl: "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
+      }).stateRoundTrip,
+    ).toBe(true);
+    expect(reasoningSupportForChainEntry("local", {}).effort).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/ai/reasoning/controls.ts b/src/lib/ai/reasoning/controls.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4beea7ef7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/ai/reasoning/controls.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+/**
+ * v1.41 — the reads behind a reasoning decision: the operator's two controls,
+ * and the resolved Coach state the account payload publishes.
+ *
+ * Server-only. The decision itself is the pure `resolveReasoning` in
+ * `./resolve.ts`; this file only gathers its inputs.
+ */
+import { prisma } from "@/lib/db";
+import { annotate, getEvent } from "@/lib/logging/context";
+import { memoizePerRequest } from "@/lib/request-cache";
+import { isAnthropicBaseUrl, probeProviderChain } from "@/lib/ai/provider";
+import { isOperatorFundedProvider } from "@/lib/ai/coach/budget";
+import type { ProviderChainType } from "@/lib/ai/provider-chain";
+import type { ProviderWorkAuthority } from "@/lib/sharing/provider-work-authority";
+import type { CompletionParams } from "@/lib/ai/types";
+import {
+  coachReasoningLevel,
+  type CoachPrefs,
+} from "@/lib/validations/coach-prefs";
+
+import type { BackgroundReasoningJob } from "./levels";
+import {
+  coachReasoningCeiling,
+  completionReasoning,
+  parseReasoningMaxEffort,
+  reasoningSupportForChainEntry,
+  resolveReasoning,
+  type CoachReasoningState,
+  type ReasoningAdminControls,
+  type ReasoningCostOwner,
+} from "./resolve";
+
+/**
+ * Fails closed: an unreadable settings row reads as "reasoning off", so a
+ * storage blip can never hand out reasoning the operator switched off. The
+ * calls it affects still run, without reasoning.
+ */
+const UNREADABLE: ReasoningAdminControls = Object.freeze({
+  enabled: false,
+  maxEffort: "low",
+});
+
+/**
+ * The operator's reasoning switch and cap. Memoised per request; read afresh
+ * inside a background run, so switching reasoning off at 02:05 stops the
+ * nightly pass that began at 02:00 for every account after the switch.
+ */
+export function loadReasoningControls(): Promise<ReasoningAdminControls> {
+  return memoizePerRequest(
+    "ai-reasoning-controls",
+    async () => {
+      try {
+        const row = await prisma.appSettings.findUnique({
+          where: { id: "singleton" },
+          select: { aiReasoningEnabled: true, aiReasoningMaxEffort: true },
+        });
+        return {
+          enabled: row?.aiReasoningEnabled ?? true,
+          maxEffort: parseReasoningMaxEffort(row?.aiReasoningMaxEffort),
+        };
+      } catch {
+        getEvent()?.addWarning(
+          "Failed to load the reasoning controls; reasoning is off for this request",
+        );
+        return UNREADABLE;
+      }
+    },
+    { freshInBackground: true },
+  );
+}
+
+/** Who pays for a chain whose primary is `providerType` (`null`: none). */
+function costOwnerOf(providerType: string | undefined): ReasoningCostOwner {
+  return providerType === undefined ||
+    isOperatorFundedProvider(providerType as ProviderChainType)
+    ? "operator"
+    : "user";
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolve the Coach reasoning state for the account payload. The preference is
+ * the caller's own (Coach preferences belong to the person); the provider is
+ * the record's, read through the memoised presence probe the `ai` block
+ * already ran, plus one point read of the model columns.
+ */
+export async function loadCoachReasoningState(args: {
+  prefs: CoachPrefs;
+  recordId: string;
+  authority: ProviderWorkAuthority | null;
+}): Promise<CoachReasoningState> {
+  const [admin, presence] = await Promise.all([
+    loadReasoningControls(),
+    probeProviderChain(args.recordId, args.authority),
+  ]);
+  const primary = presence.entries[0]?.providerType as
+    ProviderChainType | undefined;
+  const costOwner = costOwnerOf(primary);
+
+  let support = null;
+  if (primary !== undefined) {
+    const [row, settings] = await Promise.all([
+      prisma.user.findUnique({
+        where: { id: args.recordId },
+        select: { aiModel: true, aiCompatModel: true, aiCompatBaseUrl: true },
+      }),
+      primary === "admin-openai"
+        ? prisma.appSettings.findUnique({
+            where: { id: "singleton" },
+            select: { adminAiModel: true, adminAiBaseUrl: true },
+          })
+        : Promise.resolve(null),
+    ]);
+    support = reasoningSupportForChainEntry(primary, {
+      model: row?.aiModel,
+      compatModel: row?.aiCompatModel,
+      compatBaseUrl: row?.aiCompatBaseUrl,
+      adminModel: settings?.adminAiModel,
+      adminIsAnthropic: settings?.adminAiBaseUrl
+        ? isAnthropicBaseUrl(settings.adminAiBaseUrl)
+        : false,
+    });
+  }
+
+  const preference = coachReasoningLevel(args.prefs);
+  const resolved = resolveReasoning({
+    surface: "coach",
+    userPref: preference,
+    admin,
+    costOwner,
+    support,
+  });
+  return {
+    level: resolved.effort,
+    preference,
+    maxLevel: coachReasoningCeiling(admin, costOwner),
+    available: admin.enabled && support !== null && support.effort,
+    offIsReal: support?.offIsReal ?? true,
+    source: resolved.source,
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * The reasoning one background call carries, or `undefined` for none.
+ *
+ * Only the jobs in `BACKGROUND_REASONING_JOBS` can ask; the operator's switch
+ * and cap apply like everywhere else, the payer comes from the chain's
+ * primary, and the provider's ability is left to the client (the model is not
+ * known here, and every client sends nothing it cannot honour and learns a
+ * refusal per endpoint). The decision is stamped on the wide event as meta,
+ * never as an action: the job owns the action name.
+ */
+export async function resolveJobReasoning(
+  job: BackgroundReasoningJob,
+  chain: ReadonlyArray<{ providerType: ProviderChainType }>,
+): Promise<CompletionParams["reasoning"]> {
+  // Reasoning is an improvement to a job, never a precondition for it: any
+  // failure here sends the call exactly as it went before reasoning existed.
+  let resolved;
+  try {
+    resolved = resolveReasoning({
+      surface: job,
+      admin: await loadReasoningControls(),
+      costOwner: costOwnerOf(chain[0]?.providerType),
+    });
+  } catch {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  annotate({
+    meta: {
+      ai_reasoning_job: job,
+      ai_reasoning_effort: resolved.effort,
+      ai_reasoning_source: resolved.source,
+    },
+  });
+  return completionReasoning(resolved, job);
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/ai/reasoning/resolve.ts b/src/lib/ai/reasoning/resolve.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..952ef52b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/ai/reasoning/resolve.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,260 @@
+/**
+ * v1.41 — how hard one call may think, decided once per Coach turn or job.
+ *
+ * ## The one entry point
+ *
+ *     resolveReasoning({ surface, userPref, admin, costOwner, support })
+ *       → { effort, summaries, source }
+ *
+ *   - `surface`: `"coach"` or one of the background jobs in
+ *     `BACKGROUND_REASONING_JOBS`. Nothing else is representable, which is
+ *     the point: a status card, a batch note, an archetype, a nudge or a
+ *     document read has no surface to resolve against, so it cannot ask for
+ *     reasoning by accident.
+ *   - `userPref`: the person's Coach preference (`coachReasoningLevel(prefs)`).
+ *     Read for the Coach only; a job's level comes from
+ *     `BACKGROUND_REASONING_LEVEL`, never from the Coach preference.
+ *   - `admin`: the operator's two controls, `loadReasoningControls()` in
+ *     `./controls.ts` (one memoised read of the settings row).
+ *   - `costOwner`: who pays the call, `resolveCostOwner(chain)` from the Coach
+ *     budget module. An operator-funded chain is held to `medium` at most.
+ *   - `support`: what the chain's primary can do (`reasoningSupport(...)`), or
+ *     `null` when the caller does not know the model; unknown is optimistic,
+ *     because the clients learn a refusal per endpoint (`dialect-cache.ts`).
+ *
+ * The order is fixed and every arm wins over the ones after it: the
+ * operator's switch, the provider's ability, the requested level, the
+ * operator's cap, the cost cap. `source` names the arm that decided, so a
+ * dashboard and the settings both say why a level is what it is.
+ *
+ * `completionReasoning(resolved, surface)` turns the answer into the
+ * `CompletionParams.reasoning` a call carries, or `undefined` when the call
+ * should go out exactly as it did before reasoning existed. Pass the answer
+ * budget as `maxTokens`; each client adds the thinking budget itself.
+ *
+ * A leaf on purpose: no Prisma, no provider client, no `provider-chain.ts`
+ * value import, so a worker, a route and a test can all call it. The loaders
+ * live in `./controls.ts`.
+ */
+import type { ProviderChainType } from "../provider-chain";
+import type { CompletionParams } from "../types";
+import {
+  BACKGROUND_REASONING_LEVEL,
+  DEFAULT_REASONING_LEVEL,
+  DEFAULT_REASONING_MAX_EFFORT,
+  REASONING_LEVELS,
+  REASONING_MAX_EFFORTS,
+  capReasoningLevel,
+  type BackgroundReasoningJob,
+  type ReasoningLevel,
+  type ReasoningMaxEffort,
+} from "./levels";
+import { reasoningSupport, type ReasoningSupport } from "./support";
+
+/** Where a resolution is asked for: the Coach, or one admitted job. */
+export type ReasoningSurface = "coach" | BackgroundReasoningJob;
+
+/** The operator's two controls on the settings row (migration 0376). */
+export interface ReasoningAdminControls {
+  enabled: boolean;
+  maxEffort: ReasoningMaxEffort;
+}
+
+/** The controls an instance that never touched them has. */
+export const DEFAULT_REASONING_ADMIN_CONTROLS: ReasoningAdminControls =
+  Object.freeze({
+    enabled: true,
+    maxEffort: DEFAULT_REASONING_MAX_EFFORT,
+  });
+
+/**
+ * Why the level is what it is:
+ *
+ *   - `user`: the person's Coach preference, unchanged.
+ *   - `job`: the job's own level from the background table, unchanged.
+ *   - `admin_off`: the operator switched reasoning off for the instance.
+ *   - `admin_cap`: lowered to the operator's highest level.
+ *   - `cost_cap`: lowered because the operator pays for the call.
+ *   - `unsupported`: the provider cannot reason at all.
+ */
+export const REASONING_SOURCES = [
+  "user",
+  "job",
+  "admin_off",
+  "admin_cap",
+  "cost_cap",
+  "unsupported",
+] as const;
+
+export type ReasoningSource = (typeof REASONING_SOURCES)[number];
+
+export interface ResolvedReasoning {
+  effort: ReasoningLevel;
+  /** Ask the provider for readable summaries (the Coach's live trail only). */
+  summaries: boolean;
+  source: ReasoningSource;
+}
+
+export type ReasoningCostOwner = "operator" | "user";
+
+export interface ResolveReasoningInput {
+  surface: ReasoningSurface;
+  userPref?: ReasoningLevel | null;
+  admin: ReasoningAdminControls;
+  costOwner: ReasoningCostOwner;
+  support?: ReasoningSupport | null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * The Coach reasoning block on `GET /api/auth/me`, resolved on the server
+ * (`loadCoachReasoningState`) and read by the web settings and the native
+ * client alike. Client-safe, which is why it lives here.
+ */
+export interface CoachReasoningState {
+  /** The level a Coach turn runs at now, every cap applied. */
+  level: ReasoningLevel;
+  /** What the person picked (`coachPrefsJson.reasoning`), `medium` when never. */
+  preference: ReasoningLevel;
+  /** The highest level the settings may offer; `off` when the operator switched it off. */
+  maxLevel: ReasoningLevel;
+  /** False when the operator switched reasoning off or the provider cannot reason. */
+  available: boolean;
+  /** False when the provider cannot switch reasoning off (the lowest option reads "Minimal"). */
+  offIsReal: boolean;
+  /** Why `level` is what it is. */
+  source: ReasoningSource;
+}
+
+/** The highest level an operator-funded call may take (plan 7.2). */
+export const OPERATOR_FUNDED_REASONING_CAP: ReasoningMaxEffort = "medium";
+
+/** Narrow an untrusted settings value onto the cap vocabulary. */
+export function parseReasoningMaxEffort(value: unknown): ReasoningMaxEffort {
+  return typeof value === "string" &&
+    (REASONING_MAX_EFFORTS as readonly string[]).includes(value)
+    ? (value as ReasoningMaxEffort)
+    : DEFAULT_REASONING_MAX_EFFORT;
+}
+
+function lower(a: ReasoningLevel, b: ReasoningLevel): boolean {
+  return REASONING_LEVELS.indexOf(a) < REASONING_LEVELS.indexOf(b);
+}
+
+export function resolveReasoning(
+  input: ResolveReasoningInput,
+): ResolvedReasoning {
+  const coach = input.surface === "coach";
+  if (!input.admin.enabled) {
+    return { effort: "off", summaries: false, source: "admin_off" };
+  }
+  if (input.support && !input.support.effort) {
+    return { effort: "off", summaries: false, source: "unsupported" };
+  }
+
+  let effort: ReasoningLevel;
+  let source: ReasoningSource;
+  if (input.surface === "coach") {
+    effort = input.userPref ?? DEFAULT_REASONING_LEVEL;
+    source = "user";
+  } else {
+    const levels = BACKGROUND_REASONING_LEVEL[input.surface];
+    effort =
+      input.costOwner === "operator" ? levels.operatorLevel : levels.level;
+    source = "job";
+  }
+
+  const adminCapped = capReasoningLevel(effort, input.admin.maxEffort);
+  if (lower(adminCapped, effort)) {
+    effort = adminCapped;
+    source = "admin_cap";
+  }
+  if (input.costOwner === "operator") {
+    const costCapped = capReasoningLevel(effort, OPERATOR_FUNDED_REASONING_CAP);
+    if (lower(costCapped, effort)) {
+      effort = costCapped;
+      source = "cost_cap";
+    }
+  }
+
+  return {
+    effort,
+    summaries: coach && effort !== "off" && (input.support?.summaries ?? true),
+    source,
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * The `CompletionParams.reasoning` one call carries for `resolved`.
+ *
+ * `undefined` means "send what the call sent before reasoning existed": the
+ * provider cannot reason, or a background job resolved to `off` (the
+ * operator's switch included), which a job expresses by not asking. The Coach
+ * sends an explicit `off` when the person or the operator chose it, so a
+ * provider that can switch reasoning off really does (`offIsReal`).
+ */
+export function completionReasoning(
+  resolved: ResolvedReasoning,
+  surface: ReasoningSurface,
+): CompletionParams["reasoning"] {
+  if (resolved.source === "unsupported") return undefined;
+  if (resolved.effort === "off" && surface !== "coach") return undefined;
+  return { effort: resolved.effort, summaries: resolved.summaries };
+}
+
+/**
+ * The highest level the Coach may take for this person right now: what the
+ * settings dropdown offers. `off` when the operator switched reasoning off.
+ */
+export function coachReasoningCeiling(
+  admin: ReasoningAdminControls,
+  costOwner: ReasoningCostOwner,
+): ReasoningLevel {
+  if (!admin.enabled) return "off";
+  return costOwner === "operator"
+    ? capReasoningLevel(admin.maxEffort, OPERATOR_FUNDED_REASONING_CAP)
+    : admin.maxEffort;
+}
+
+/**
+ * What a chain entry can do with reasoning, from the configuration columns a
+ * presence read already holds (no client built, no key decrypted). The chain
+ * tag decides the client: the Codex paths are the Codex client, the person's
+ * OpenAI key and the operator's slot are the OpenAI client (or Anthropic,
+ * when the operator's base URL is Anthropic's), and so on. Model names fall
+ * back to the defaults the resolvers use.
+ */
+export function reasoningSupportForChainEntry(
+  providerType: ProviderChainType,
+  config: {
+    model?: string | null;
+    compatModel?: string | null;
+    compatBaseUrl?: string | null;
+    adminModel?: string | null;
+    adminIsAnthropic?: boolean;
+  },
+): ReasoningSupport {
+  switch (providerType) {
+    case "codex":
+    case "admin-codex":
+      return reasoningSupport("codex", "");
+    case "openai":
+      return reasoningSupport("admin-key", config.model ?? "gpt-4o");
+    case "anthropic":
+      return reasoningSupport("anthropic", config.model ?? "claude-sonnet-4-6");
+    case "local":
+      return reasoningSupport("local", config.model ?? "");
+    case "openai-compatible":
+      return reasoningSupport(
+        "openai-compatible",
+        config.compatModel ?? config.model ?? "",
+        config.compatBaseUrl ? { baseUrl: config.compatBaseUrl } : {},
+      );
+    case "admin-openai":
+      return config.adminIsAnthropic
+        ? reasoningSupport(
+            "anthropic",
+            config.adminModel ?? "claude-sonnet-4-6",
+          )
+        : reasoningSupport("admin-key", config.adminModel ?? "gpt-4o");
+  }
+}