The optional Zvec ANN backend improves candidate generation without changing Aionis' core governance contract: retrieval proposes, admission decides.
The bottleneck was candidate generation
Aionis' governance layer can only adjudicate memories that reach it as candidates. The strict ID-neutral MGBench diagnostic showed that safety stayed intact, but active-route promotion could drop when the bounded SQLite scan did not surface enough current-state evidence.
That is a retrieval-engine problem, not a reason to weaken the admission gate. The right fix is to improve candidate generation while preserving the same use_now, inspect_before_use, do_not_use, and rehydrate contract.
Why Zvec fits the local Runtime
The Zvec backend is optional and local. It is a sidecar ANN index used for semantic candidates; it does not become the source of truth. Memory rows, lifecycle state, authority, feedback, and traces still live in the Runtime stores.
That separation matters. Aionis should not become a vector database wrapper. It should use vector search as one candidate source, then apply runtime-owned governance before the agent sees memory.
Strict ID-neutral result
On the 40-scenario MGBench strict interference holdout, Aionis observe->guide with Zvec ANN reached 40/40 product-positive cases, 100% active recovery, 0/40 unsafe direct-use, 100% rehydrate recall, and 100% trace coverage. The average context size was 1,306 characters.
A fresh rerun with a new Runtime, new SQLite stores, new Zvec sidecar, and new scope prefix reproduced the same outcome: 40/40 product-positive cases, 0/40 unsafe direct-use, 100% rehydrate recall, 100% trace coverage, and 1,305 average context characters.
What the result means
The result supports a precise product claim: stronger candidate retrieval can improve active-state recovery without weakening memory governance. It does not claim patch-success superiority or model reasoning superiority.
The product architecture becomes cleaner: semantic ANN, lexical, structured, graph, and recent sources generate candidates; Aionis adjudicates whether each candidate may act, must be inspected, should be blocked, or needs rehydration.