forge: add patch 9 — widen hop-step + drop "ack " from test response

- BOT_HOP_STEP_MILLIS_DEFAULT 1500 -> 2500
- BOT_HOP_BIAS_MAX_MILLIS 8000 -> 12000
- BOT_RESPONSE_PENDING_TTL_MILLIS 45000 -> 60000
- BOT_PREFS_VERSION 3 -> 4 (forces re-default of hop_step_ms on existing
  bots that saved the old 1500 value)
- writeAckResponse + executeTest: drop the literal "ack " prefix so test
  responses now start with "@[sender] ..."

Field test showed two bots with token-matching `[1865]` responses both
firing because the far bot scheduled its reply before the near bot's
reply could propagate back through the mesh. New hop step gives ~5-8 s
of margin at the 4-hop boundary.

patches/meshcore/0001-Add-companion-radio-firmware-bot-command-parity.patch

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 From 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
 From: cj-vana <cj@depth23.online>
 Date: Fri, 15 May 2026 11:44:21 -0600
-Subject: [PATCH 1/8] Add companion radio firmware bot command parity
+Subject: [PATCH 1/9] Add companion radio firmware bot command parity
 
 ---
  .../companion_radio/BotCommandRegistry.cpp    |  121 ++

patches/meshcore/0002-Harden-firmware-bot-response-coordination.patch

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 From 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
 From: cj-vana <cj@depth23.online>
 Date: Fri, 15 May 2026 19:58:42 -0600
-Subject: [PATCH 2/8] Harden firmware bot response coordination
+Subject: [PATCH 2/9] Harden firmware bot response coordination
 
 ---
  examples/companion_radio/BotCommands.cpp      |   2 +-

patches/meshcore/0003-Allow-prefixless-firmware-bot-DMs.patch

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 From 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
 From: cj-vana <cj@depth23.online>
 Date: Fri, 15 May 2026 20:09:58 -0600
-Subject: [PATCH 3/8] Allow prefixless firmware bot DMs
+Subject: [PATCH 3/9] Allow prefixless firmware bot DMs
 
 ---
  examples/companion_radio/BotPolicy.cpp | 2 +-

patches/meshcore/0004-Align-firmware-bot-commands-with-upstream-behavior.patch

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 From 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
 From: cj-vana <cj@depth23.online>
 Date: Sat, 16 May 2026 04:12:02 +0000
-Subject: [PATCH 4/8] Align firmware bot commands with upstream behavior
+Subject: [PATCH 4/9] Align firmware bot commands with upstream behavior
 
 ---
  .../companion_radio/BotCommandRegistry.cpp    |  25 +-

patches/meshcore/0005-Add-hop-aware-bot-coordination-utility-commands-and-.patch

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 From 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
 From: cj-vana <cj@depth23.online>
 Date: Sat, 16 May 2026 12:38:13 -0600
-Subject: [PATCH 5/8] Add hop-aware bot coordination, utility commands, and
+Subject: [PATCH 5/9] Add hop-aware bot coordination, utility commands, and
  bounded delays
 
 Adds new utility commands (TIME, LORA, ID, NEIGHBORS), neighbor tracking,

patches/meshcore/0006-Mark-bot-adverts-speed-up-initial-advert-default-con.patch

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 From 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
 From: cj-vana <cj@depth23.online>
 Date: Sat, 16 May 2026 18:58:28 -0600
-Subject: [PATCH 6/8] Mark bot adverts, speed up initial advert, default
+Subject: [PATCH 6/9] Mark bot adverts, speed up initial advert, default
  contacts auto-overwrite
 
 Three coordination/discoverability fixes:

patches/meshcore/0007-Prefix-bot-responses-with-request-token-for-inter-bo.patch

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 From 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
 From: cj-vana <cj@depth23.online>
 Date: Sat, 16 May 2026 19:33:04 -0600
-Subject: [PATCH 7/8] Prefix bot responses with request token for inter-bot
+Subject: [PATCH 7/9] Prefix bot responses with request token for inter-bot
  suppression
 
 Adds a 4-hex request token (low 16 bits of the request fingerprint) as a

patches/meshcore/0008-Drop-MCBOT-advert-suffix-and-auto-learn-known-bot-pa.patch

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 From 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
 From: cj-vana <cj@depth23.online>
 Date: Sat, 16 May 2026 19:55:36 -0600
-Subject: [PATCH 8/8] Drop [MCBOT] advert suffix and auto-learn known-bot path
+Subject: [PATCH 8/9] Drop [MCBOT] advert suffix and auto-learn known-bot path
 
 Removes BOT_ADVERT_MARKER / writeBotAdvertName / isBotAdvertName from
 FirmwareBot, autoLearnKnownBotAdvert and getAdvertNodeName from MyMesh,

patches/meshcore/0009-Widen-hop-step-drop-ack-prefix-from-test-response.patch

@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+From 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: cj-vana <cj@depth23.online>
+Date: Sat, 16 May 2026 20:05:19 -0600
+Subject: [PATCH 9/9] Widen hop-step + drop "ack " prefix from test response
+
+Two changes:
+
+1. Coordination timing: bump BOT_HOP_STEP_MILLIS_DEFAULT 1500 -> 2500,
+   BOT_HOP_BIAS_MAX_MILLIS 8000 -> 12000, BOT_RESPONSE_PENDING_TTL_MILLIS
+   45000 -> 60000. Bumps BOT_PREFS_VERSION 3 -> 4 so existing bots
+   re-derive defaults instead of carrying the old 1500 ms hop step.
+
+   Why: a far bot (4 hops from request) was firing at ~7-10 s while a
+   near bot (1 hop) fired at ~3-6 s. Across 4-5 mesh hops, the near
+   bot's response took ~5-10 s of airtime+queueing to reach the far
+   bot, frequently arriving AFTER the far bot's scheduled fire time.
+   With 2500 ms/hop, the far bot now schedules at ~12 s, giving ~5-8 s
+   of margin for the near bot's response to arrive and trigger
+   token-based suppression.
+
+2. Test command response: drop the literal "ack " prefix from
+   writeAckResponse and BotCommands::executeTest. Responses now start
+   directly with "@[sender] ..." which keeps the user mention and
+   metadata but matches user preference for less noise.
+---
+ examples/companion_radio/BotCommands.cpp | 4 ++--
+ examples/companion_radio/BotTypes.h      | 8 ++++----
+ examples/companion_radio/FirmwareBot.cpp | 2 +-
+ 3 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
+
+diff --git a/examples/companion_radio/BotCommands.cpp b/examples/companion_radio/BotCommands.cpp
+index 44357a99..1aa4406d 100644
+--- a/examples/companion_radio/BotCommands.cpp
++++ b/examples/companion_radio/BotCommands.cpp
+@@ -536,9 +536,9 @@ BotCommandResult executeTest(const BotCommand& command, const BotCommandContext&
+   char received_at[9];
+   formatSecondsHms(context.uptime_seconds, received_at, sizeof(received_at));
+   if (command.args_len == 0) {
+-    return writeFormatted(output, output_len, "ack @[%s] local | recv %s", name, received_at);
++    return writeFormatted(output, output_len, "@[%s] local | recv %s", name, received_at);
+   }
+-  return writeFormatted(output, output_len, "ack @[%s] local | recv %s | %s", name, received_at, command.args);
++  return writeFormatted(output, output_len, "@[%s] local | recv %s | %s", name, received_at, command.args);
+ }
+ 
+ }
+diff --git a/examples/companion_radio/BotTypes.h b/examples/companion_radio/BotTypes.h
+index ad249300..5a953639 100644
+--- a/examples/companion_radio/BotTypes.h
++++ b/examples/companion_radio/BotTypes.h
+@@ -30,14 +30,14 @@
+ #define BOT_NEIGHBOR_RECENT_MILLIS (60UL * 60UL * 1000UL)
+ #define BOT_RESPONSE_DELAY_BASE_MILLIS 1200UL
+ #define BOT_RESPONSE_DELAY_JITTER_MILLIS 1800UL
+-#define BOT_RESPONSE_PENDING_TTL_MILLIS 45000UL
++#define BOT_RESPONSE_PENDING_TTL_MILLIS 60000UL
+ #define BOT_RESPONSE_RECENT_TTL_MILLIS 30000UL
+ #define BOT_KNOWN_BOT_FLAG_SUPPRESS_NORMAL 0x01
+ #define BOT_SENDER_KEY_PREFIX_LEN 6
+ #define BOT_MIN_AUTH_SENDER_KEY_PREFIX_LEN 4
+ #define BOT_KNOWN_BOT_LABEL_LEN 12
+ #define BOT_PREFS_MAGIC 0x31504642UL
+-#define BOT_PREFS_VERSION 3
++#define BOT_PREFS_VERSION 4
+ #define BOT_PREFS_DEFAULT_LOCAL_ADVERT_MILLIS (24UL * 60UL * 60UL * 1000UL)
+ #define BOT_PREFS_DEFAULT_FLOOD_ADVERT_MILLIS (24UL * 60UL * 60UL * 1000UL)
+ #define BOT_PREFS_INITIAL_LOCAL_ADVERT_MILLIS 60000UL
+@@ -45,9 +45,9 @@
+ #define BOT_PREFS_MAX_DELAY_MILLIS 60000U
+ #define BOT_PREFS_MAX_ADVERT_MILLIS (7UL * 24UL * 60UL * 60UL * 1000UL)
+ #define BOT_PREFS_SERIALIZED_SIZE 296
+-#define BOT_HOP_STEP_MILLIS_DEFAULT 1500U
++#define BOT_HOP_STEP_MILLIS_DEFAULT 2500U
+ #define BOT_HOP_STEP_MILLIS_MAX 30000U
+-#define BOT_HOP_BIAS_MAX_MILLIS 8000UL
++#define BOT_HOP_BIAS_MAX_MILLIS 12000UL
+ 
+ enum BotChannelKind : uint8_t {
+   BOT_CHANNEL_DM = 0,
+diff --git a/examples/companion_radio/FirmwareBot.cpp b/examples/companion_radio/FirmwareBot.cpp
+index 3c310173..e228b7c8 100644
+--- a/examples/companion_radio/FirmwareBot.cpp
++++ b/examples/companion_radio/FirmwareBot.cpp
+@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ BotWriteResult writeAckResponse(const BotMessage& message, const BotCommand& com
+   const char* connection = message.channel_kind == BOT_CHANNEL_DM
+                                 ? "direct"
+                                 : (message.channel_name[0] ? message.channel_name : "channel");
+-  int n = snprintf(output, output_len, "ack @[%s] %s", sender, connection);
++  int n = snprintf(output, output_len, "@[%s] %s", sender, connection);
+   if (n < 0) {
+     output[0] = 0;
+     return BOT_WRITE_NO_SPACE;

tests/firmware_bot/test_firmware_bot.cpp

@@ -539,7 +539,7 @@ static void test_ack_response_format() {
   char out[BOT_MAX_RESPONSE_LEN + 1];
   size_t written = 0;
   assert(FirmwareBot::writeAckResponse(message, command, out, sizeof(out), &written) == BOT_WRITE_OK);
-  assert(strcmp(out, "ack @[alice] #bot | 0h SNR 0.00 | recv 21:25:45 | hello") == 0);
+  assert(strcmp(out, "@[alice] #bot | 0h SNR 0.00 | recv 21:25:45 | hello") == 0);
   assert(written == strlen(out));
 
   message.channel_kind = BOT_CHANNEL_DM;
@@ -547,7 +547,7 @@ static void test_ack_response_format() {
   message.channel_name[0] = 0;
   assert(FirmwareBot::parseCommand("!t", 2, &command));
   assert(FirmwareBot::writeAckResponse(message, command, out, sizeof(out), &written) == BOT_WRITE_OK);
-  assert(strcmp(out, "ack @[unknown] direct | 0h SNR 0.00 | recv 21:25:45") == 0);
+  assert(strcmp(out, "@[unknown] direct | 0h SNR 0.00 | recv 21:25:45") == 0);
 
   uint8_t path[] = { 0x12, 0x34, 0xab, 0xcd };
   message.channel_kind = BOT_CHANNEL_BOT;
@@ -558,12 +558,12 @@ static void test_ack_response_format() {
   message.path_hash_count = 2;
   message.packet_snr_quarters = -5;
   assert(FirmwareBot::writeAckResponse(message, command, out, sizeof(out), &written) == BOT_WRITE_OK);
-  assert(strcmp(out, "ack @[bob] #bot | 2h@2B SNR -1.25 | recv 21:25:45") == 0);
+  assert(strcmp(out, "@[bob] #bot | 2h@2B SNR -1.25 | recv 21:25:45") == 0);
   assert(strstr(out, "Bot test OK") == NULL);
 
   char small[16];
   assert(FirmwareBot::writeAckResponse(message, command, small, sizeof(small), &written) == BOT_WRITE_TRUNCATED);
-  assert(strncmp(small, "ack @[bob]", 10) == 0);
+  assert(strncmp(small, "@[bob]", 6) == 0);
 }
 
 static BotMessage make_message(const char* channel, const char* text) {
@@ -628,7 +628,7 @@ static void test_command_outputs() {
 
   result = run_command("!test", out, sizeof(out));
   assert(result.code == BOT_COMMAND_RESULT_OK);
-  assert_starts_with(out, "ack @[");
+  assert_starts_with(out, "@[");
   assert_contains(out, "recv ");
   assert(strstr(out, "Bot test OK") == NULL);