feat(engine): independent (allow-repeats) multi-pick for the wildcard pool

The pool multi-pick (PICK min-max) now honors instance.pick_independent: when true it draws WITH replacement (repeats allowed) and the count is NOT clamped to the pool size, mirroring the inline ~ flag. Default (unique, pick_k_unique) path is byte-unchanged, so existing locked seeds reproduce. Foundation for the 'Allow repeats' pool toggle; schema (instance + library default) + TS parity + UI follow.

engine/modules/wildcard_handler.py

@@ -570,9 +570,20 @@ class WildcardHandler(ModuleHandler):
             pool = [o for o in options if not o.get("is_null")]
             weights = [max(0.0, float(o.get("weight", 1))) for o in pool]
             pool_n = len(pool)
-            lo_c, hi_c = min(lo, pool_n), min(hi, pool_n)
-            count = lo_c if lo_c == hi_c else lo_c + int(rng.random() * (hi_c - lo_c + 1))
-            picks = pick_k_unique(pool, weights, count, rng)
+            independent = bool(instance.get("pick_independent", False))
+            if independent:
+                # SP2c: independent multi-pick draws WITH replacement (repeats
+                # allowed), mirroring the inline `~` flag — so the count is the
+                # requested range and is NOT clamped to the pool size.
+                count = lo if lo == hi else lo + int(rng.random() * (hi - lo + 1))
+                picks = [
+                    p for p in (_pick_weighted(pool, rng) for _ in range(count))
+                    if p is not None
+                ]
+            else:
+                lo_c, hi_c = min(lo, pool_n), min(hi, pool_n)
+                count = lo_c if lo_c == hi_c else lo_c + int(rng.random() * (hi_c - lo_c + 1))
+                picks = pick_k_unique(pool, weights, count, rng)
             sep = instance.get("pick_separator")
             if not isinstance(sep, str):
                 sep = ", "

tests/engine/modules/test_wildcard_handler.py

@@ -96,6 +96,42 @@ def test_multi_pick_binds_listvar_unique():
     assert len(set(out["c"].items)) == 2
 
 
+def test_multi_pick_independent_allows_repeats():
+    # SP2c: independent (with replacement) draws the FULL requested count even
+    # when it exceeds the pool size — 5 picks from a 2-option pool → 5 items.
+    from engine.syntax.types import ListVar
+    out = WildcardHandler.resolve(
+        _payload([
+            {"id": "a", "value": "alpha", "weight": 1},
+            {"id": "b", "value": "beta", "weight": 1},
+        ]),
+        instance={
+            "variable_binding": "c", "pick_min": 5, "pick_max": 5,
+            "pick_independent": True, "pick_separator": ", ",
+        },
+        ctx=_ctx(seed=7),
+    )
+    assert isinstance(out["c"], ListVar)
+    assert len(out["c"].items) == 5
+    assert all(v in ("alpha", "beta") for v in out["c"].items)
+
+
+def test_multi_pick_unique_clamps_to_pool():
+    # Default (unique): 5 requested from a 2-option pool clamps to 2 distinct.
+    from engine.syntax.types import ListVar
+    out = WildcardHandler.resolve(
+        _payload([
+            {"id": "a", "value": "alpha", "weight": 1},
+            {"id": "b", "value": "beta", "weight": 1},
+        ]),
+        instance={"variable_binding": "c", "pick_min": 5, "pick_max": 5, "pick_separator": ", "},
+        ctx=_ctx(seed=7),
+    )
+    assert isinstance(out["c"], ListVar)
+    assert len(out["c"].items) == 2
+    assert len(set(out["c"].items)) == 2
+
+
 def test_multi_pick_seed_deterministic():
     a = WildcardHandler.resolve(
         _payload(list(_MULTI)),