2026-04-27 - Phi-4-mini Bounded Run-Range Orchestration Intent

Intent: Add a non-destructive run-range style stage to the Phi orchestration script so a bounded Phi-4-mini layer range can advance automatically while preserving the quality-before-scale workflow and validation discipline.

Setup: Planned scope: orchestration only; per-layer resource preflight between layers; mandatory gates for convert, compile, strict residency, and numerical smoke. Constraints: no heavy conversion/full-model run, no perf or energy run, and no cleanup/deletion.

Result: Intent recorded before implementation; no new artifacts, placement numbers, latency, energy, cosine, or perplexity yet.

Surprise / hurdle: The orchestration must reduce manual layer-by-layer friction without becoming an accidental scale-out or destructive workflow.

Lesson: Bounded automation is safe only when each layer re-enters preflight and gate checks before proceeding.

Next: Implement the run-range stage in the Phi orchestration script without changing other files or running heavyweight stages.

Refs: research/ANE_CHAIN_SCHEMA.md