nx_hops_probe.nx

nx_hops_probe.nx -- PROVE THE REDIRECT-DEPTH OBSERVABLE FIRES. nx_https_last_hops() was added 2026-08-16 because the fetcher walked the redirect chain and threw its length away, so nothing downstream could tell a page that DELIVERED from one that BOUNCED. But an observable that has only ever been read on a NON-redirecting host reads 0, and 0 is exactly what a broken wire also reads. A green that never had a corresponding red is unverified. So this is a two-sided control, run against a caller-supplied url: a direct host -> hops should be 0 (negative control: the counter is not stuck high) a redirecting host -> hops should be >0 (positive control: the counter actually moves) Point it at our OWN edge for the redirect case -- it issues 301s for clean urls -- so proving our instrument costs no third party a single request. Reports NUMBERS, never a verdict: an uncalibrated observable that emits a judgement teaches people to trust a bar nobody measured. license_tier: ORIGINAL