chore: harden pre-release ignore rules and add verify_auth utility

.gitignore

@@ -18,3 +18,42 @@ sidecar/sidecar/
 sidecar/local_ai_core_sidecar.egg-info/
 PLOS.xcodeproj/xcuserdata/
 data/
+
+# local experiment/runtime artifacts
+.tmp-*/
+tmp/
+scratch/
+results/
+*.log
+*_pid*.txt
+generation_*.txt
+
+# sidecar local artifacts
+sidecar/tmp/
+sidecar/scratch/
+sidecar/server_*.log
+sidecar/server_*.pid
+sidecar/stream_turn_report_*.json
+sidecar/real_conversation_report_*.json
+
+# editor/local workspace settings
+.vscode/
+
+# local benchmark/simulation artifacts
+bench_test_ref.json*
+mini_ref.json
+mini_hyp.json
+sampled_questions.json
+sidecar_sample_bench.py
+test_memory_ingestion.py
+test_openai_client.py
+final_system_check.py
+mini_generate_hyp.py
+
+# local R&D notes/templates (not for release by default)
+PLUGIN_*_DESIGN.md
+PLUGIN_RUNTIME_SPEC.md
+PROJECT_VALUATION_REPORT_*.md
+plugin_templates/
+longmemeval_repo/
+tools/

verify_auth.py

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import os
+
+import requests
+
+
+url = os.getenv("VERIFY_AUTH_URL", "http://localhost:8001/v1/chat/completions")
+token = os.getenv("VERIFY_AUTH_TOKEN", "replace-me")
+model = os.getenv("VERIFY_AUTH_MODEL", "gemma-4-e4b")
+
+headers = {
+    "Authorization": f"Bearer {token}",
+    "Content-Type": "application/json",
+}
+payload = {
+    "model": model,
+    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hi"}],
+    "max_tokens": 10,
+}
+
+try:
+    response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=payload, timeout=15)
+    print(f"Status Code: {response.status_code}")
+    print(f"Response: {response.text}")
+except Exception as e:
+    print(f"Error: {e}")