The dream_mode setting was defined in DEFAULT_SETTINGS and watched
by update_settings for reschedule, but run_dream_job never read it —
silently-ignored configuration.
Two changes:
1. DEFAULT_SETTINGS["dream_mode"] flipped from "nrem" to "pipeline".
The default was a latent regression vector: wiring up the setting
without changing the default would have silently switched all
default-config users from full-pipeline (current production
behavior) to NREM-only nightly runs.
2. run_dream_job reads dream_mode at fire-time, validates against
{"pipeline", "nrem", "early-rem", "late-rem"}, falls back to
pipeline with a warning on invalid values. Lucid intentionally
excluded — it is on-demand only by design and remains available
via CLI and /api/dreamer/run.
Nightly dream production behavior is unchanged for current users
(no settings.json key → default "pipeline" → no flag passed → same
as before). Users can now meaningfully change the nightly mode by
editing settings.json or via the SettingsPanel.
Found by Track 1 inventory 2026-05-02 (Finding 9 / divergence #9).
aaron
7bebd8ae50