Simplify always-on AI materials workflow

modules/encounter_api.py

@@ -86,14 +86,32 @@ def adaptive_intake_plan():
     """
     payload = request.get_json(silent=True) or {}
     project = payload.get("project", payload) if isinstance(payload, dict) else {}
-    plan = build_intake_plan(project or {})
+    project = project if isinstance(project, dict) else {}
+    plan = build_intake_plan(project)
+    plan["conditional"] = []
+    plan["rationale"] = "SafeBARS uses the six core protocol questions; AI review runs automatically after submission."
     return jsonify({"success": True, **plan})
 
 
 @encounter_api.post("/sessions")
 def create_session():
     try:
-        encounter_session = encounter_engine.create_session(request.get_json(silent=True) or {})
+        raw_payload = request.get_json(silent=True) or {}
+        payload = raw_payload if isinstance(raw_payload, dict) else {}
+        project = payload.get("project", {})
+        project = project if isinstance(project, dict) else {}
+        artifacts = payload.get("artifacts", {})
+        artifacts = artifacts if isinstance(artifacts, dict) else {}
+        payload = {
+            **payload,
+            "project": {**project, "uses_ai": True},
+            "artifacts": {
+                key: value for key, value in artifacts.items()
+                if key != "ai_governance"
+            },
+            "use_llm": True,
+        }
+        encounter_session = encounter_engine.create_session(payload)
     except ValueError as exc:
         return jsonify({"success": False, "error": str(exc)}), 400
     except Exception as exc:

modules/encounter_engine.py

@@ -780,11 +780,14 @@ def create_protocol_version(self, session_id: str) -> Optional[Dict[str, Any]]:
             )
         current_version = int(source.get("lineage", {}).get("version_number", 1) or 1)
         payload = {
-            "project": source.get("project", {}),
-            "artifacts": source.get("artifacts", {}),
+            "project": {**source.get("project", {}), "uses_ai": True},
+            "artifacts": {
+                **source.get("artifacts", {}),
+                "ai_governance": "",
+            },
             "intake_transcript": source.get("intake_transcript", []),
             "selected_scenarios": source.get("selected_scenarios", []),
-            "use_llm": source.get("use_llm", False),
+            "use_llm": True,
             "application_profile_id": source.get("application_profile_id", ""),
             "tradeoff_deliberations": source.get("tradeoff_deliberations", {}),
             "lineage": {
@@ -1464,9 +1467,9 @@ def _build_audit_plan(
                 "title": "Probe for additional passage-grounded gaps",
                 "goal": "Find at most two non-checklist gaps while remaining grounded to submitted passages.",
                 "reason": (
-                    "A provider is configured and the researcher enabled this optional probe."
+                    "The always-on AI review path found a configured provider for this bounded probe."
                     if llm_enabled
-                    else "Skipped because no configured provider was enabled; deterministic tracing remains active."
+                    else "The AI critic was requested automatically, but no provider is configured; deterministic tracing remains active."
                 ),
                 "priority": "low",
                 "status": "queued" if llm_enabled else "skipped",

modules/encounter_report.py

@@ -857,11 +857,12 @@ def build_ethics_application_docx(session: Dict[str, Any]) -> bytes:
     if project.get("uses_ai") or assessment.get("uses_ai"):
         document.add_heading("7. AI use and risk-management appendix", level=1)
         _add_label_paragraph(document, "AI role described by researcher", project.get("context"))
-        _add_label_paragraph(
-            document,
-            "Submitted AI ethics-review supplement",
-            artifacts.get("ai_governance"),
-        )
+        if str(artifacts.get("ai_governance", "")).strip():
+            _add_label_paragraph(
+                document,
+                "Legacy AI governance notes",
+                artifacts.get("ai_governance"),
+            )
         _add_label_paragraph(
             document,
             "Review basis",
@@ -1041,11 +1042,12 @@ def build_research_design_docx(session: Dict[str, Any]) -> bytes:
     if project.get("uses_ai") or assessment.get("uses_ai"):
         document.add_heading("7. AI role, human oversight, and failure response", level=1)
         _add_label_paragraph(document, "Submitted AI role", project.get("context"))
-        _add_label_paragraph(
-            document,
-            "Submitted AI ethics-review supplement",
-            artifacts.get("ai_governance"),
-        )
+        if str(artifacts.get("ai_governance", "")).strip():
+            _add_label_paragraph(
+                document,
+                "Legacy AI governance notes",
+                artifacts.get("ai_governance"),
+            )
         _add_label_paragraph(
             document,
             "Design basis",