refactor: remove LLM from online decisions

tests/test_concurrency.py

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import os
 import sys
 import tempfile
 import threading
@@ -7,6 +8,7 @@ import unittest
 from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
 from pathlib import Path
+from unittest.mock import patch
 
 
 PACKAGE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "modelhub_submmit_api"
@@ -208,6 +210,45 @@ def make_candidate(index: int) -> dict:
 
 
 class ClientPoolConcurrencyTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_online_submission_does_not_construct_llm_even_when_key_is_present(self) -> None:
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as temporary_dir:
+            root = Path(temporary_dir)
+            args = build_parser().parse_args(
+                [
+                    "--gpus",
+                    "Iluvatar_bi-150",
+                    "--task-types",
+                    "text-generation",
+                    "--limit",
+                    "1",
+                    "--max-scan-models",
+                    "1",
+                    "--skip-outcome-sync",
+                    "--skip-history-archive",
+                ]
+            )
+            args.runs_dir = str(root / "runs")
+            args.ledger_path = str(root / "ledger.jsonl")
+            args.outcomes_path = str(root / "outcomes.jsonl")
+            args.claims_path = str(root / "claims.jsonl")
+            args.history_archive_path = str(root / "history.jsonl")
+
+            with (
+                patch.dict(os.environ, {"MODELHUB_QWEN_API_KEY": "must-not-be-used"}),
+                patch(
+                    "llm_classifier.LLMAssistedClassifier.__init__",
+                    side_effect=AssertionError("online submission constructed an LLM client"),
+                ),
+            ):
+                summary = run_submission(
+                    args,
+                    now=datetime(2026, 1, 1, 12, tzinfo=timezone.utc),
+                    hf_discovery=FakeDiscovery(1),  # type: ignore[arg-type]
+                    modelhub_client=AutoStrategyClient(available=1),  # type: ignore[arg-type]
+                )
+
+            self.assertFalse(summary["candidatePreflight"]["llm"]["enabled"])
+
     def test_exhausted_recent_window_expands_to_older_models_in_same_run(self) -> None:
         with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as temporary_dir:
             root = Path(temporary_dir)