# Parameters as an exploration kit

One page, every knob, and the creative use each one exists for. Flags on the CLI, query/body parameters
on HTTP (`?effort=…&seed=…&version=…&max_latency_ms=…`).

| Knob | Creative use |
|---|---|
| `effort=flash` | validate an ENCODING in ~1 s on a shrunk instance — the formulation test, not the answer |
| `effort=medium` | the measured quality/cost default — the workhorse for scaled runs |
| `effort=high` | once, on the instance that already passed flash — never as a first attempt |
| `seed=42` + `version=cortex-1.0` | byte-stable regression: same input, same seed, same model ⇒ same answer, forever |
| a different `seed` | NOT diversity — the answer is a function of the input; for variety, change the problem (or use `sample`) |
| `max_latency_ms=8000` | you have a 15 s timeout: get the honest best-so-far (`stopped_at_deadline:true`) instead of a dropped connection |
| `max_compute_units=2000` | fail-closed spend rail — an accidental n=3000 maxcut refuses instead of burning the day's sandbox quota |
| `--binary` | dense integer maxcut/optimize: the CLI encodes HXSB + gzip for you (measured ~6x transport win, byte-identical answer) |
| `--no-wait` + `jobs <id>` | submit every tick of a rolling horizon, poll in parallel — the returned `poll` URL long-polls (`?wait=30`) |
| `batch --input ticks.ndjson` | 24 ticks as ONE process with a concurrency window — not 24 curls |
| `linear`/`quadratic` inside `rules` | feasibility AND preference in the same POST — constraints decide what is legal, weights decide what is best |
| `compute` (no command) | shape-routing: when the mapping is ambiguous, let the router read the JSON |
| `sample` vs `feel` | the DISTRIBUTION of low-energy states vs one ground state |
| `want` + `pin` | inverse design: "I want this output — find the rest" |
| `--dry-run` | the entire preflight free: local validation + service estimate + the exact would-send |
| `--fields answer,certainty` / `--out full.json` | context-window discipline: keep the tokens, keep the evidence on disk |

> **BRAYON PIESKE** — *"A parameter nobody touches is a feature nobody shipped; teach the knob, not just the name."*