| name | normalization-atomicity |
| description | Use when persisting rewards_box or any data structure to Firestore. ALL paths (streaming/polling/passthrough) must canonicalize before writing. |
Normalization atomicity — all persisted data must be canonicalized
Any value written to Firestore (or any persistent store) must pass through its canonicalizer before persistence — regardless of which execution path performs the write.
Specific case: rewards_box dicts written to Firestore must pass through normalize_rewards_box_for_ui() (or rewards_engine.canonicalize_rewards()) before being stored. "Passthrough", "passthru", and "passthrough" path names are semantically misleading — they imply no transformation but persistence requires canonicalization.
Correct pattern:
- Streaming path →
llm_parser.py → calls canonicalize_rewards() → normalized output persisted
- Polling path →
project_level_up_ui() → normalized output stored
- Passthrough path → must still call
normalize_rewards_box_for_ui() before persisting
Why: PR #6265 fixed the passthrough branch when _has_level_up_ui_signal was False — the raw LLM rewards_box was returned without normalization. A path labeled "passthrough" does not mean "skip normalization."
