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+# Routing Rules (`routing.md`)
+
+**Purpose:** tell the running Hub how to choose a destination.
+**Owner:** Sam (human-edited).
+**Status:** v1 draft. First pass. Edit the tables; keep the three sections.
+**Related:** `hub_brief.md` (design), `docs/hub-api.md` (inbound API, section 5),
+`docs/ask-contract.md` (project interface).
+
+This file is **not** `AGENTS.md`. `AGENTS.md` tells coding agents how to work.
+This file tells the Hub how to choose. Keep them separate.
+
+---
+
+## How the Hub uses this file
+
+For each request, the Hub runs the checks in this order:
+
+1. **Never-route check.** If the request is a control action (section 3), return
+   `status: "refused"`. Stop. Do not ask an LLM.
+2. **Read capabilities.** Read the topic list from each project's
+   `/capabilities` (`docs/ask-contract.md`).
+3. **Read this file.** Read the topic map (section 1) and the overlap rule
+   (section 2).
+4. **Ask the LLM.** Give the LLM the question, the capability lists, and this
+   file. The LLM returns one of four answers:
+   - `route` — send to one project.
+   - `fanout` — ask several projects, then merge.
+   - `clarify` — ask the user one short question.
+   - `no_match` — say it does not know.
+5. **Route.** Send the request. The action call holds no LLM (brief rule 4).
+
+A project name in this file must match the `project` value in that project's
+`/capabilities` reply. A new project adds one row here and one `/capabilities`
+reply. Build the ability once.
+
+**Fanout:** use it only when the question clearly needs two topics at once, for
+example "what do I have on today?" (school + email + calendar). Default to
+`route`, then `clarify` when unsure.
+
+---
+
+## 1. Topic to project map
+
+The Hub uses these topics as the plain-language keys for routing. Keep the list
+short. Add a topic only when a project really answers it.
+
+| Topic (what the user says) | Project | Kind | Status |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| email, inbox, mail, message, unread | `email_agent` | query `/ask` | placeholder — not built |
+| school, Compass, homework, timetable, class, NHS appointment | `compass_nhs` | query `/ask` | placeholder — not built |
+| screen time, internet use, time limits, what did the kids do online | `internet_control` | query `/ask` | placeholder — not built |
+| lights, lamp, switch, plug, timer, reminder, calendar event, device, thermostat | `home_assistant` | command (direct) | active service |
+| speak, say it out loud, house speakers, announce | `speakers` | command (direct) | active service |
+| search, look up, what is, who is, weather, news | `web_search` | command (direct) | placeholder — not built |
+| notify, notification, alert me, remind my phone | `apprise` | command (direct) | active service |
+| file a job, plan this, research this, slow task, work bench | `paperclip` | decision (approval) | active service |
+| phone screen, tap, open an app, type on the phone, scroll | `artemis` | command (direct, action only) | placeholder — not built |
+| visitor, front door, who is at the door | `front_door_cam` | peer intercom | placeholder — not built |
+| talk to the house voice, Hey Jervis | `jervis` | way in (voice only) | active service |
+| chat, per-person chat, dsh | `dsh` | peer (keeps its own chat) | active service |
+
+**Not destinations.** These are ways in, not projects to route to. A request that
+names them still routes to the real destination.
+
+| Name | Why it is not a destination |
+|---|---|
+| `phone_app` | Way in. Sends voice to the Hub. |
+| `console_portal` | Way in and dashboard. |
+| `admin_app` | Way in for restricted actions. Calls the internet control service directly. |
+
+### Placeholder entries
+
+Each project below is planned but **not built**. Keep the row and the placeholder
+so the file is ready. Replace the placeholder when the project declares its
+`/capabilities`.
+
+| Project | Expected topics (placeholder) | First build step |
+|---|---|---|
+| `email_agent` | email, inbox, mail | brief build order step 5 |
+| `compass_nhs` | school, homework, timetable | brief build order step 5 |
+| `internet_control` | screen time, internet use, limits | brief build order step 6 |
+| `artemis` | phone screen control | brief build order step 7 |
+| `web_search` | search, weather, facts | pending |
+| `front_door_cam` | visitor | pending |
+
+---
+
+## 2. Preferred project when two overlap
+
+Some topics fit two projects. The Hub uses this preference order. The left
+project wins. If the question still fits both, the Hub uses `clarify`.
+
+| Overlap | Preferred | Other | Reason |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| "today" / "schedule" | `home_assistant` (calendar) | `compass_nhs` (timetable) | The calendar answers the whole day. School answers school only. |
+| "what do I have on" | `fanout` (`compass_nhs` + `email_agent` + `home_assistant`) | one project | Merge the three, then answer once. |
+| "message" | `email_agent` (email) | `dsh` (chat) | An email question is about the inbox, not the chat. A chat question stays in dsh. |
+| "reminder" | `home_assistant` | `apprise` | Home Assistant owns timers and reminders. Apprise only delivers. |
+| "appointment" | `compass_nhs` | `home_assistant` (calendar) | A health or school appointment is NHS or school data first. |
+| "what did the kids do" | `internet_control` | `email_agent` | Online use is the internet control service's data. |
+| "is the doorbell" / "visitor" | `front_door_cam` | `artemis` | The camera owns the visitor. Artemis only acts on the screen. |
+
+Rules:
+
+1. A **domain question** goes to the project that owns the data. Do not fanout
+   for one topic.
+2. A **day summary** fans out. Merge to one short sentence.
+3. Two projects with equal claim, and the preference table does not decide, use
+   `clarify`. Ask one short question. Example: "School or email?"
+4. Never fanout to more than three projects.
+5. A project that is down returns `status: "unavailable"` for that part. Do not
+   fail the whole fanout.
+
+---
+
+## 3. Never-route list (control actions)
+
+The Hub **never** routes a control action. It returns `status: "refused"` and
+points at the admin app. This list is the authority for that decision. Add every
+new control action here before you add the ability.
+
+A control action is a **high-consequence change**. It changes parental controls,
+limits, or a child's access. Only the admin app does it, and it calls the
+internet control service **directly**. The Hub is not in that path
+(brief rules 8 and 11).
+
+The Hub must refuse when the request means any of these:
+
+| Control action | Refuse? |
+|---|---|
+| Cut the kids' internet. | **Refuse** |
+| Restore the kids' internet. | **Refuse** |
+| Change an internet time limit or daily allowance. | **Refuse** |
+| Change an internet schedule (bedtime, school hours). | **Refuse** |
+| Add, remove, or change a blocklist or content filter. | **Refuse** |
+| Change any parental control on any account or device. | **Refuse** |
+| Add, change, or remove a child profile or a device rule. | **Refuse** |
+| Pause, lock, or unlock a family device for a policy reason. | **Refuse** |
+| Any other state change on the internet control service. | **Refuse** |
+
+The alternative reply is always the same:
+
+> "Use the admin app to change internet limits."
+
+`status: "refused"`, `route.kind: "refused"`,
+`route.reason: "high_consequence_control"`. See `docs/hub-api.md`, section 5.
+
+### Not in the never-route list
+
+These do **not** route as control. Keep them out of this list.
+
+| Action | Path | Why |
+|---|---|---|
+| Turn on a lamp. | Hub → Home Assistant | Fast command. Low consequence. |
+| Set a timer or reminder. | Hub → Home Assistant | Fast command. Low consequence. |
+| Add a calendar event. | Hub → calendar project | Fast write. Approval not required. |
+| Speak on the house speakers. | Hub → speakers | Output only. |
+| File a Paperclip job. | Hub → approval → Paperclip | Slow decision. Needs a tap, but it does route through the Hub. |
+| Ask about screen time. | Hub → `internet_control` `/ask` | Read only. A query is allowed. |
+
+**A spoken keycode is not the lock.** Voice may ask. Only the admin app confirms.
+
+---
+
+## 4. What the admin app may send to the Hub
+
+The admin app is the only trusted door. It uses its own token
+(`HUB_TOKEN_ADMIN`). It may send the Hub:
+
+1. **Queries and fast commands** — the same as any way in, through `POST /ask`.
+2. **A confirmation decision** — one yes or no for a Hub-owned approval, through
+   `POST /approve`. In v1 this files a Paperclip job.
+
+The admin app **must not** send a parental control change to the Hub. There is no
+Hub route for it. The admin app calls the **internet control service directly**,
+then shows the result. The Hub does not record, route, or run that change.
+
+In one line: **the admin app may send the Hub a query, a fast command, or a
+Hub-owned approval decision — never a parental control change.**
+
+---
+
+## 5. Reply shape (short note)
+
+The Hub returns the reply to the source and keeps it short (brief rule 6). The
+shape comes from `source` and `want` in `docs/hub-api.md`, section 9. This file
+does not change the reply shape.
+
+---
+
+## Change log
+
+| Version | Date | Change |
+|---|---|---|
+| v1 | 2026-10-10 | First draft. Topic map, overlap rule, never-route list, admin app line. |