fix(settings): align mode default and dirty check

Author: JerrettDavis

docs/environment-variables.md

@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ tool-result interception (§2 Compression); and the embedding-server sidecar (§
 
 | Variable | Type | Default | Description |
 |---|---|---|---|
-| `HEADROOM_MODE` | enum | `token` | Proxy posture: `token` (compress; history may be rewritten for max savings) or `cache` (freeze prior turns for provider prefix-cache stability). |
+| `HEADROOM_MODE` | enum | `cache` | Proxy posture: `token` (compress; history may be rewritten for max savings) or `cache` (freeze prior turns for provider prefix-cache stability). |
 | `HEADROOM_OPTIMIZE` | bool | `true` | Master optimization switch. `false` = passthrough (no compression); mirrors `--no-optimize`. |
 | `HEADROOM_CACHE_ENABLED` | bool | `true` | Semantic response cache. `false` mirrors `--no-cache`. |
 | `HEADROOM_RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED` | bool | `true` | Enforce RPM/TPM limits. `false` mirrors `--no-rate-limit`. |

headroom/dashboard/templates/settings.html

@@ -225,6 +225,7 @@ <h3 class="text-xs font-semibold uppercase tracking-wide field-help mb-3" x-text
                 activePage: '',
                 advancedOpen: {},  // per-page override of the Advanced collapse (else default rule)
                 values: {},
+                initialValues: {},
                 storedValues: {},
                 manifestManaged: false,  // true on supervised installs (locks manifest fields)
                 fieldErrors: {},
@@ -247,6 +248,7 @@ <h3 class="text-xs font-semibold uppercase tracking-wide field-help mb-3" x-text
                         for (const f of this.fields) {
                             const v = schema.values ? schema.values[f.key] : f.value;
                             this.values[f.key] = f.type === 'optional-bool' ? this.triValue(v) : v;
+                            this.initialValues[f.key] = this.values[f.key];
                             this.storedValues[f.key] = f.stored;
                         }
                         this.manifestManaged = !!schema.supervised;
@@ -309,18 +311,17 @@ <h3 class="text-xs font-semibold uppercase tracking-wide field-help mb-3" x-text
                     for (const f of this.fields) {
                         if (this.isLocked(f)) continue;
                         if (this.clearedKeys[f.key]) { out[f.key] = null; continue; }
-                        const stored = this.storedValues[f.key];
                         if (f.type === 'optional-bool') {
                             const cur = this.triValue(this.values[f.key]);
-                            const base = this.triValue(this.isEmptyValue(stored) ? f.default : stored);
+                            const base = this.triValue(this.initialValues[f.key]);
                             if (cur === base) continue;
                             out[f.key] = cur === '' ? null : (cur === 'true');
                             continue;
                         }
                         const v = this.values[f.key];
-                        const baseline = this.isEmptyValue(stored) ? f.default : stored;
+                        const baseline = this.initialValues[f.key];
                         if (this.isEmptyValue(v)) {
-                            if (!this.isEmptyValue(stored)) out[f.key] = null;
+                            if (!this.isEmptyValue(baseline)) out[f.key] = null;
                             continue;
                         }
                         if (this.normalizedComparable(v) === this.normalizedComparable(baseline)) continue;
@@ -353,6 +354,9 @@ <h3 class="text-xs font-semibold uppercase tracking-wide field-help mb-3" x-text
                                 this.banner = 'Live changes applied; restart required for: ' + restart.join(', ');
                             }
                             this.clearedKeys = {};
+                            for (const f of this.fields) {
+                                this.initialValues[f.key] = this.values[f.key];
+                            }
                         } else if (res.status === 422) {
                             this.fieldErrors = data.field_errors || {};
                             this.status = 'Fix the highlighted fields.';

headroom/settings_store.py

@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ def live(self) -> bool:
         "Proxy mode",
         "Compression",
         "enum",
-        default="token",
+        default="cache",
         choices=("token", "cache"),
         help="Proxy posture: token prioritizes compression (history may be rewritten for max "
         "savings); cache prioritizes provider prefix-cache stability (prior turns frozen).",

tests/test_settings_pages.py

@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ class TestProxyModeKnob:
     def test_mode_is_a_basic_compression_knob(self):
         field = settings_store._BY_KEY["mode"]
         assert field.env == "HEADROOM_MODE"
+        assert field.default == "cache"
         assert field.page == "Compression"
         assert field.tier == "basic"
         assert field.live is False