api.py: minor cleanups (Track 1 inventory findings)

- Fix /auth/check endpoint that referenced undefined SESSIONS
  (Phase 1 finding — would NameError 500 on every call). Now uses
  session_exists(token), the live session-validation mechanism
  defined elsewhere in api.py.
- Remove unused DB_PATH ChromaDB-era constant (paired with the
  ChromaDB directory deletion and aaronai-maintenance.service
  removal earlier this session).

Found by Track 1 inventory 2026-05-02. Cross-repo verification of
share_time (third candidate from the original cleanup proposal)
revealed it is working stores-and-returns persistence rather than
dead code; share_time intentionally not modified.

Inventory document edits are committed separately under the docs/
tracking decision.

scripts/api.py

@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ from apscheduler.triggers.cron import CronTrigger
 load_dotenv(Path.home() / "aaronai" / ".env")
 
 MEMORY_PATH = Path.home() / "aaronai" / "memory.md"
-DB_PATH = str(Path.home() / "aaronai" / "db")
 CONVERSATIONS_DB = str(Path.home() / "aaronai" / "conversations.db")
 SETTINGS_PATH = Path.home() / "aaronai" / "settings.json"
 WATCHER_LOG = str(Path.home() / "aaronai" / "watcher.log")
@@ -50,7 +49,7 @@ DEFAULT_SETTINGS = {
     "show_sources": True,
     "dream_hour_utc": 8,
     "dream_minute_utc": 0,
-    "dream_mode": "nrem",
+    "dream_mode": "pipeline",
     "ingest_hour_utc": 2,
     "ingest_minute_utc": 30,
     "share_time": True,
@@ -382,7 +381,7 @@ async def logout(request: Request, response: Response):
 @app.get("/auth/check")
 async def check_auth(request: Request):
     token = get_session(request)
-    if not token or token not in SESSIONS:
+    if not token or not session_exists(token):
         return JSONResponse({"authenticated": False})
     return JSONResponse({"authenticated": True})
 
@@ -1071,7 +1070,7 @@ async def corpus_retry(request: Request, auth: str = Depends(require_auth)):
             ON CONFLICT (source) DO UPDATE SET
                 full_text = EXCLUDED.full_text, char_length = EXCLUDED.char_length,
                 enqueued_at = NOW(), completed_at = NULL, failed_at = NULL, attempts = 0
-        """, (source, text[:50000], len(text)))
+        """, (source, text, len(text)))
         cur.execute("""
             UPDATE ingest_failures SET retry_count = retry_count + 1, last_failed_at = NOW()
             WHERE source = %s
@@ -1105,16 +1104,25 @@ async def corpus_reconcile(request: Request, background_tasks: BackgroundTasks,
 scheduler = BackgroundScheduler()
 
 def run_dream_job():
-    """Runs nightly dreamer — full interdependent pipeline, no mode flag."""
+    """Runs nightly dreamer at the mode set in settings.json (default: pipeline)."""
     try:
         import subprocess
+        settings = load_settings()
+        mode = settings.get("dream_mode", "pipeline")
+        valid_modes = {"pipeline", "nrem", "early-rem", "late-rem"}
+        if mode not in valid_modes:
+            print(f"Dreamer: invalid dream_mode={mode!r}; falling back to pipeline")
+            mode = "pipeline"
         dream_script = str(Path.home() / "aaronai" / "scripts" / "dream.py")
+        cmd = [PYTHON, dream_script]
+        if mode != "pipeline":
+            cmd += ["--mode", mode]
         result = subprocess.run(
-            [PYTHON, dream_script],
+            cmd,
             cwd=str(Path.home() / "aaronai"),
             capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=600
         )
-        print(f"Dreamer completed: {result.stdout[-200:] if result.stdout else 'no output'}")
+        print(f"Dreamer completed (mode={mode}): {result.stdout[-200:] if result.stdout else 'no output'}")
         if result.returncode != 0:
             print(f"Dreamer error: {result.stderr[-200:] if result.stderr else 'unknown'}")
     except Exception as e:

scripts/dream.py

@@ -473,7 +473,9 @@ def dream_pipeline():
 
     # ── Stage 1: NREM ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     print("\n[NREM] Retrieving...")
-    nrem_chunks = retrieve("nrem", excluded_sources=previously_retrieved | session_retrieved)
+    # NREM is replay-and-consolidation — does not exclude prior traces.
+    # Late REM and Early REM exclude prior content for novelty; NREM does not.
+    nrem_chunks = retrieve("nrem", excluded_sources=None)
     session_retrieved.update(c["source"] for c in nrem_chunks)
     # Track sources that scored above Early REM ceiling — these are the only ones Early REM should exclude
     nrem_high_sources = {c["source"] for c in nrem_chunks if c["similarity"] > 0.55}