You are a constitutional council ranking individual git commits for ownership allocation.

Compare these two commits. Decide which contributed more lasting value to the project.

Judge substance, not spectacle:
- Prefer correct, lasting design and real bugfixes over churn, formatting, renames, or generated noise.
- Prefer clarity and necessity over sheer line count. A small precise change can beat a large diffuse one.
- Do not favor a side merely because its patch is longer or noisier.
- Weight what the change does for the project, not the contributor's name.

Return ONLY a JSON object: {"winner": "A" or "B", "ratio": "N:M", "explanation": "..."}
The explanation must cite concrete differences in the patches (1-3 sentences).

Side A — contributor: tommy-mor
Side A — commit message:
[5db58b98] Improve vote pair selection for spanning trees and rank refinement.

Prefer attaching unranked items to established components before comparing
isolates, then zip down adjacent rank-centrality pairs once the pool is fully
connected, skipping pairs that already have votes.

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

Side A — unified diff (full patch):
diff --git a/server/src/pair.rs b/server/src/pair.rs
index 54b5d2417e9dba04ed8df422156e274c2b2f76b2..c14de4b0502c8b5a17cddf3746077739d56e03e0 100644
--- a/server/src/pair.rs
+++ b/server/src/pair.rs
@@ -3,13 +3,21 @@
 //! Pair selection prefers **bridge** votes — comparisons between items in
 //! different connected components of the voted-pairs graph — so the pool
 //! merges into one ranking group before refining within it.
+//!
+//! Among unvoted bridges, prefer merging established voted components, then
+//! attaching a never-voted child to an established component, and only then
+//! comparing two never-voted children (so the voted graph grows as one tree).
+//!
+//! Once every pool child sits in one voted component, refinement **zips** down
+//! the rank-centrality order: prefer 1 vs 2, then 2 vs 3, and so on, skipping
+//! pairs that already have a vote.
 
 use rand::seq::SliceRandom;
 use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
 
 use crate::{
     path_types::ItemId,
-    ranking::connected_components_from_voted_pairs,
+    ranking::{connected_components_from_voted_pairs, ranked_items},
     reducer::{GlobalTree, GroupState},
 };
 
@@ -28,36 +36,77 @@ fn pair_is_voted(group: &GroupState, a: &ItemId, b: &ItemId) -> bool {
     group.voted_pairs.contains(&(i, j))
 }
 
-/// Component id per pool item: voted-pairs graph components plus one id per
-/// never-voted child.
-fn component_ids(group: &GroupState, pool: &[ItemId]) -> HashMap<ItemId, usize> {
+/// Voted-pairs layout for pool items: component id per item plus which ids are
+/// multi-node voted components (ranked groups in the UI).
+struct ComponentLayout {
+    ids: HashMap<ItemId, usize>,
+    established: HashSet<usize>,
+}
+
+fn component_layout(group: &GroupState, pool: &[ItemId]) -> ComponentLayout {
     let n = group.idx_to_item.len();
     let (comps, isolates) =
         connected_components_from_voted_pairs(n, group.voted_pairs.iter().copied());
 
-    let mut out: HashMap<ItemId, usize> = HashMap::new();
+    let mut established = HashSet::new();
+    let mut ids: HashMap<ItemId, usize> = HashMap::new();
     for (comp_idx, comp) in comps.iter().enumerate() {
+        if comp.len() >= 2 {
+            established.insert(comp_idx);
+        }
         for &idx in comp {
             if idx < n {
-                out.insert(group.idx_to_item[idx].clone(), comp_idx);
+                ids.insert(group.idx_to_item[idx].clone(), comp_idx);
             }
         }
     }
     let mut next = comps.len();
     for &idx in &isolates {
         if idx < n {
-            out.insert(group.idx_to_item[idx].clone(), next);
+            ids.insert(group.idx_to_item[idx].clone(), next);
             next += 1;
         }
     }
     for item in pool {
-        out.entry(item.clone()).or_insert_with(|| {
+        ids.entry(item.clone()).or_insert_with(|| {
             let id = next;
             next += 1;
             id
         });
     }
-    out
+    ComponentLayout { ids, established }
+}
+
+/// Every pool child shares one multi-node voted component (spanning tree phase done).
+fn pool_fully_connected(layout: &ComponentLayout, pool: &[ItemId]) -> bool {
+    if pool.len() < 2 {
+        return false;
+    }
+    let mut comp_id = None;
+    for item in pool {
+        let Some(id) = layout.ids.get(item) else {
+            return false;
+        };
+        if !layout.established.contains(id) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        match comp_id {
+            None => comp_id = Some(*id),
+            Some(expected) if expected == *id => {}
+            _ => return false,
+        }
+    }
+    comp_id.is_some()
+}
+
+/// Pool children that appear in `group`, sorted best rank first.
+fn ranked_pool_order(group: &GroupState, pool: &[ItemId]) -> Vec<ItemId> {
+    let pool_set: HashSet<_> = pool.iter().collect();
+    ranked_items(group)
+        .into_iter()
+        .map(|r| r.item)
+        .filter(|id| pool_set.contains(id))
+        .collect()
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord)]
@@ -72,19 +121,108 @@ enum PairPriority {
     WithinVoted = 3,
 }
 
-fn pair_priority(
+/// Tie-break among unvoted bridge pairs.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord)]
+enum BridgeSubPriority {
+    /// Both endpoints lie in established (multi-node) voted components.
+    MergeEstablished = 0,
+    /// One established component member and one never-voted child.
+    AttachIsolate = 1,
+    /// Two never-voted children (separate singleton components).
+    IsolatePair = 2,
+}
+
+/// Tie-break among within-component pairs once the pool is one connected group.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord)]
+struct WithinSubPriority {
+    /// 1 = adjacent ranks (i vs i+1); larger = farther apart in the order.
+    rank_gap: usize,
+    /// min rank index of the two — zip from the top (1 vs 2 before 2 vs 3).
+    zip_index: usize,
+}
+
+const WITHIN_SUB_WORST: WithinSubPriority = WithinSubPriority {
+    rank_gap: usize::MAX,
+    zip_index: usize::MAX,
+};
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord)]
+struct PairSortKey {
+    priority: PairPriority,
+    bridge_sub: BridgeSubPriority,
+    within_sub: WithinSubPriority,
+}
+
+fn item_in_established(layout: &ComponentLayout, item: &ItemId) -> bool {
+    layout
+        .ids
+        .get(item)
+        .is_some_and(|id| layout.established.contains(id))
+}
+
+fn bridge_sub_priority(layout: &ComponentLayout, a: &ItemId, b: &ItemId) -> BridgeSubPriority {
+    let a_est = item_in_established(layout, a);
+    let b_est = item_in_established(layout, b);
+    match (a_est, b_est) {
+        (true, true) => BridgeSubPriority::MergeEstablished,
+        (true, false) | (false, true) => BridgeSubPriority::AttachIsolate,
+        (false, false) => BridgeSubPriority::IsolatePair,
+    }
+}
+
+fn within_sub_priority(
+    group: &GroupState,
+    pool: &[ItemId],
+    layout: &ComponentLayout,
+    a: &ItemId,
+    b: &ItemId,
+) -> WithinSubPriority {
+    if !pool_fully_connected(layout, pool) {
+        return WITHIN_SUB_WORST;
+    }
+    let order = ranked_pool_order(group, pool);
+    let (Some(i), Some(j)) = (order.iter().position(|x| x == a), order.iter().position(|x| x == b))
+    else {
+        return WITHIN_SUB_WORST;
+    };
+    WithinSubPriority {
+        rank_gap: i.abs_diff(j),
+        zip_index: i.min(j),
+    }
+}
+
+fn pair_sort_key(
     group: &GroupState,
-    components: &HashMap<ItemId, usize>,
+    pool: &[ItemId],
+    layout: &ComponentLayout,
     a: &ItemId,
     b: &ItemId,
-) -> PairPriority {
+) -> PairSortKey {
     let voted = pair_is_voted(group, a, b);
-    let bridge = components.get(a) != components.get(b);
-    match (bridge, voted) {
+    let bridge = layout.ids.get(a) != layout.ids.get(b);
+    let priority = match (bridge, voted) {
         (true, false) => PairPriority::BridgeUnvoted,
         (false, false) => PairPriority::WithinUnvoted,
         (true, true) => PairPriority::BridgeVoted,
         (false, true) => PairPriority::WithinVoted,
+    };
+    let bridge_sub = if priority == PairPriority::BridgeUnvoted {
+        bridge_sub_priority(layout, a, b)
+    } else {
+        BridgeSubPriority::MergeEstablished
+    };
+    let within_sub = if matches!(
+        priority,
+        PairPriority::WithinUnvoted | PairPriority::WithinVoted
+    ) {
+        within_sub_priority(group, pool, layout, a, b)
+    } else {
+        WITHIN_SUB_WORST
+    };
+    PairSortKey {
+        priority,
+        bridge_sub,
+        within_sub,
     }
 }
 
@@ -109,9 +247,12 @@ fn candidate_pairs(pool: &[ItemId], exclude: Option<(&ItemId, &ItemId)>) -> Vec<
 
 /// Pick the next pair to vote on within `pool`.
 ///
-/// 1. Prefer unvoted **bridge** pairs (connect separate ranking components).
-/// 2. Then unvoted within-component pairs (refinement).
-/// 3. Then already-voted pairs (re-compare).
+/// 1. Prefer unvoted **bridge** pairs (connect separate ranking components),
+///    with sub-priority: merge established components, attach an isolate to
+///    established, then compare two isolates.
+/// 2. Then unvoted within-component pairs; when the pool is one connected group,
+///    prefer adjacent ranks (1 vs 2, 2 vs 3, …) in order, skipping voted pairs.
+/// 3. Then already-voted pairs (re-compare), with the same zip ordering.
 pub fn suggest_next_pair_in_pool(
     group: &GroupState,
     pool: &[ItemId],
@@ -121,15 +262,15 @@ pub fn suggest_next_pair_in_pool(
     if candidates.is_empty() {
         return None;
     }
-    let components = component_ids(group, pool);
+    let layout = component_layout(group, pool);
     let best = candidates
         .iter()
-        .map(|(a, b)| (pair_priority(group, &components, a, b), (a, b)))
-        .min_by_key(|(p, _)| *p)?
+        .map(|(a, b)| (pair_sort_key(group, pool, &layout, a, b), (a, b)))
+        .min_by_key(|(k, _)| *k)?
         .0;
     let best_pairs: Vec<(ItemId, ItemId)> = candidates
         .into_iter()
-        .filter(|(a, b)| pair_priority(group, &components, a, b) == best)
+        .filter(|(a, b)| pair_sort_key(group, pool, &layout, a, b) == best)
         .collect();
     best_pairs.choose(&mut rand::thread_rng()).cloned()
 }
@@ -303,6 +444,38 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(from_ab && from_cd, "expected bridge pair, got {:?}", chosen);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn suggest_prefers_attach_over_isolate_pair_among_many_unranked() {
+        let parent = ItemId::parse("reddit.com/r/rust").unwrap();
+        let mut tree = seed_children(
+            &parent,
+            &[
+                "reddit.com/r/rust/a",
+                "reddit.com/r/rust/b",
+                "reddit.com/r/rust/c",
+                "reddit.com/r/rust/d",
+                "reddit.com/r/rust/e",
+            ],
+        );
+        let ab =
+            VoteData::from_recorded(1, "reddit.com/r/rust/a", "reddit.com/r/rust/b", 2, 1).unwrap();
+        tree.apply_vote(&parent, ab);
+        let group = tree.get(&parent).unwrap().local_ranking.clone();
+        let pool = children_of(&tree, &parent);
+        let pair = suggest_next_pair_in_pool(&group, &pool, None).unwrap();
+        let chosen = pair_set(&pair);
+        let from_ab =
+            chosen.contains("reddit.com/r/rust/a") || chosen.contains("reddit.com/r/rust/b");
+        let from_cde = chosen.contains("reddit.com/r/rust/c")
+            || chosen.contains("reddit.com/r/rust/d")
+            || chosen.contains("reddit.com/r/rust/e");
+        assert!(
+            from_ab && from_cde,
+            "expected ranked+unranked attach, got {:?}",
+            chosen
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn suggest_connects_isolate_to_existing_component() {
         let parent = ItemId::parse("reddit.com/r/rust").unwrap();
@@ -325,6 +498,65 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(chosen.contains("reddit.com/r/rust/a") || chosen.contains("reddit.com/r/rust/b"));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn suggest_zips_adjacent_ranks_when_tree_complete() {
+        let parent = ItemId::parse("reddit.com/r/rust").unwrap();
+        let mut tree = seed_children(
+            &parent,
+            &[
+                "reddit.com/r/rust/a",
+                "reddit.com/r/rust/b",
+                "reddit.com/r/rust/c",
+            ],
+        );
+        // Star at a connects all three; b-c is the only unvoted adjacent pair left.
+        for (a, b, l, r) in [
+            ("reddit.com/r/rust/a", "reddit.com/r/rust/b", 3, 1),
+            ("reddit.com/r/rust/a", "reddit.com/r/rust/c", 2, 1),
+        ] {
+            let v = VoteData::from_recorded(1, a, b, l, r).unwrap();
+            tree.apply_vote(&parent, v);
+        }
+        let group = tree.get(&parent).unwrap().local_ranking.clone();
+        let pool = children_of(&tree, &parent);
+        let pair = suggest_next_pair_in_pool(&group, &pool, None).unwrap();
+        let chosen = pair_set(&pair);
+        // a-b and a-c voted; b-c is the only unvoted adjacent pair in rank order.
+        assert!(chosen.contains("reddit.com/r/rust/b"));
+        assert!(chosen.contains("reddit.com/r/rust/c"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn suggest_zip_prefers_1v2_before_2v3_when_both_unvoted() {
+        let parent = ItemId::parse("reddit.com/r/rust").unwrap();
+        let mut tree = seed_children(
+            &parent,
+            &[
+                "reddit.com/r/rust/a",
+                "reddit.com/r/rust/b",
+                "reddit.com/r/rust/c",
+                "reddit.com/r/rust/d",
+            ],
+        );
+        // Hub at c connects all four; leave rank-adjacent a-b and b-c unvoted.
+        for (a, b, l, r) in [
+            ("reddit.com/r/rust/c", "reddit.com/r/rust/d", 3, 1),
+            ("reddit.com/r/rust/b", "reddit.com/r/rust/c", 2, 1),
+            ("reddit.com/r/rust/a", "reddit.com/r/rust/c", 2, 1),
+        ] {
+            let v = VoteData::from_recorded(1, a, b, l, r).unwrap();
+            tree.apply_vote(&parent, v);
+        }
+        let group = tree.get(&parent).unwrap().local_ranking.clone();
+        let pool = children_of(&tree, &parent);
+        assert!(pool_fully_connected(&component_layout(&group, &pool), &pool));
+        let pair = suggest_next_pair_in_pool(&group, &pool, None).unwrap();
+        let chosen = pair_set(&pair);
+        // Top adjacent unvoted edge should be a-b (zip index 0), not b-c (index 1).
+        assert!(chosen.contains("reddit.com/r/rust/a"));
+        assert!(chosen.contains("reddit.com/r/rust/b"));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn resolve_pair_picks_from_pool() {
         let parent = ItemId::parse("reddit.com/r/rust").unwrap();


Side B — contributor: tommy-mor
Side B — commit message:
[5350388a] Add pool-scoped voting: /vote?pool=<parent> picks pairs from children.

- /vote now accepts an optional `pool` param (parent item path). When
  provided without left/right, it picks the first unvoted pair from the
  pool's children. When provided alongside left/right, it constrains
  "next pair" navigation to siblings within the pool.
- "vote on children" button appears on item pages with ≥2 children,
  linking to /vote?pool=<item>.
- Pool is threaded through VoteComparePost → success JS so in-page
  morph after voting keeps the pool context for next-pair navigation.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Side B — unified diff (full patch):
diff --git a/server/src/api/ui_html.rs b/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
index 5faa642451d69555cb391974beb0ad22c9355c8c..b79efdb4d52bd445a67f38cbfd61d3507d2b3014 100644
--- a/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
+++ b/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
@@ -193,6 +193,7 @@ async fn dispatch_ui_action(
             ratio_right,
             explanation,
             next,
+            pool,
             form_action,
         } => {
             if form_action != "/ui" {
@@ -239,6 +240,9 @@ async fn dispatch_ui_action(
                         .into_response();
                 }
             };
+            let pool_id = pool.as_deref().and_then(|p| {
+                crate::path_types::ItemId::parse(p.trim()).map(|i| i.normalized_storage())
+            });
             let mut rl = ratio_left.trim().parse::<i32>().unwrap_or(0).max(0);
             let mut rr = ratio_right.trim().parse::<i32>().unwrap_or(0).max(0);
             if rl == 0 && rr == 0 {
@@ -294,6 +298,7 @@ async fn dispatch_ui_action(
                         &thread_tag,
                         &left_id,
                         &right_id,
+                        pool_id.as_ref(),
                         pid.as_str(),
                         post_index,
                     )
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden/pin.rs b/server/src/html/garden/pin.rs
index 5865cfdbc06aeb6555c97380e25591fae6b3d125..1820d7fe7ee167ecbf5ad5124f23b2ab92ffb01f 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden/pin.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden/pin.rs
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ pub(super) fn ont_pin_vote_controls(
                         }
                     }
                 } @else {
-                    a class="ont-vote-compare-btn" href=(vote_compare_href(nav, pi, &current, None)) title="Compare and vote" {
+                    a class="ont-vote-compare-btn" href=(vote_compare_href(nav, pi, &current, None, None)) title="Compare and vote" {
                         span class="ont-vote-glyph" aria-hidden="true" { "⚖" }
                         span { "vote" }
                     }
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ pub(super) fn child_row_pin_or_vote(
                         if nv == 1 { "" } else { "s" },
                     );
                     @let aria = format!("Vote; {} pairwise {}", nv, if nv == 1 { "vote" } else { "votes" });
-                    a class="ont-garden-vote-ico" href=(vote_compare_href(nav, pi, row_item, None)) title=(tip) aria-label=(aria) {
+                    a class="ont-garden-vote-ico" href=(vote_compare_href(nav, pi, row_item, None, None)) title=(tip) aria-label=(aria) {
                         span class="ont-garden-vote-glyph" aria-hidden="true" { "⚖" }
                         span class="ont-garden-vote-count" { (format!("{}", nv)) }
                     }
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden/render.rs b/server/src/html/garden/render.rs
index 5c3986ca36902f6c9019a4b5590f0b3b9d2cb4ff..bd8cbce059ee789de6e8dc9b6f69f54beee2f994 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden/render.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden/render.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ use super::{
     item::{child_depth_from_uri, item_code_label, item_display_path, item_href},
     item_page::{build_item_page_view_model, sibling_nav_markup},
     pin::{child_row_pin_or_vote, ont_pin_vote_controls, pinned_item_from_jar},
+    vote::vote_pool_href,
 };
 
 pub(super) async fn render_scope_view(
@@ -186,12 +187,21 @@ pub(super) async fn render_scope_view(
             }
 
             section class="ont-tab-panel ont-tab-panel-children" {
+                @let total_children = model.child_rankings.component_rankings
+                    .iter().map(|c| c.ranked.len()).sum::<usize>()
+                    + model.child_rankings.unranked_items.len();
                 h3 {
                     "ranked child groups"
                     @if model.child_depth > 1 {
                         " "
                         span class="muted" { (format!("(depth {})", model.child_depth)) }
                     }
+                    @if total_children >= 2 {
+                        " "
+                        a class="ont-vote-children-btn" href=(vote_pool_href(&nav, &model.item)) {
+                            "vote on children"
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
                 @if model.child_rankings.component_rankings.is_empty() {
                     p class="muted" { "no voted pairs yet in this scope" }
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden/tests.rs b/server/src/html/garden/tests.rs
index 6900a6795bcde866a176722149d6378e5127b4c3..c2036fca7752aef63d260e36cfe9649f63b5c550 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden/tests.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden/tests.rs
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ fn suggest_next_vote_pair_prefers_unvoted_sibling_pair() {
     let content = content_for_garden_view(&reduced, &ScopeId::Public);
     let a = ItemId::parse("~/topic/a").unwrap().normalized_storage();
     let b = ItemId::parse("~/topic/b").unwrap().normalized_storage();
-    let next = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, &a, &b).expect("next sibling pair");
+    let next = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, &a, &b, None).expect("next sibling pair");
     assert_ne!(
         canonical_edge_items(&next.0, &next.1),
         canonical_edge_items(&a, &b)
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden/vote.rs b/server/src/html/garden/vote.rs
index 1d7fc8aa7436bfa9c1186dfd940a8d751ab7e088..2682cfcbd2f834b56459a02831aa225cffe67c58 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden/vote.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden/vote.rs
@@ -211,14 +211,15 @@ pub(crate) async fn vote_compare_post_success_js(
     _thread_tag: &str,
     left: &ItemId,
     right: &ItemId,
+    pool: Option<&ItemId>,
     _post_id: &str,
     _post_idx: Option<usize>,
 ) -> String {
     let reduced = state.reduced.read().await;
     let content = content_for_garden_view(&reduced, &nav.scope());
     let edge_history = vote_edge_history_markup(content, left, right);
-    let next_pair = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, left, right);
-    let nav_markup = vote_compare_nav_markup(nav, next_pair.as_ref());
+    let next_pair = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, left, right, pool);
+    let nav_markup = vote_compare_nav_markup(nav, next_pair.as_ref(), pool);
     drop(reduced);
     JsBuilder::new()
         .morph_inner_selector("#vote-edge-history-region", edge_history)
@@ -231,27 +232,39 @@ pub(super) fn vote_compare_href(
     left: &ItemId,
     right: &ItemId,
     thread_override: Option<&str>,
+    pool: Option<&ItemId>,
 ) -> String {
     let left_q = urlencoding::encode(left.as_str());
     let right_q = urlencoding::encode(right.as_str());
-    let base = format!(
+    let mut base = format!(
         "{}/vote?left={}&right={}",
         nav.room_path_prefix_for_vote_compare(),
         left_q,
         right_q
     );
     if let Some(t) = thread_override.filter(|s| !s.is_empty()) {
-        format!("{}&thread={}", base, urlencoding::encode(t))
-    } else {
-        base
+        base = format!("{}&thread={}", base, urlencoding::encode(t));
+    }
+    if let Some(p) = pool {
+        base = format!("{}&pool={}", base, urlencoding::encode(p.as_str()));
     }
+    base
+}
+
+pub(super) fn vote_pool_href(nav: &ThreadNav, pool_item_str: &str) -> String {
+    format!(
+        "{}/vote?pool={}",
+        nav.room_path_prefix_for_vote_compare(),
+        urlencoding::encode(pool_item_str)
+    )
 }
 
 fn vote_compare_nav_markup(
     nav: &ThreadNav,
     next_pair: Option<&(ItemId, ItemId)>,
+    pool: Option<&ItemId>,
 ) -> maud::Markup {
-    let next_pair_href = next_pair.map(|(nl, nr)| vote_compare_href(nav, nl, nr, None));
+    let next_pair_href = next_pair.map(|(nl, nr)| vote_compare_href(nav, nl, nr, None, pool));
     html! {
         div class="vote-compare-nav" {
             @if let Some(href) = &next_pair_href {
@@ -267,8 +280,15 @@ pub(super) fn suggest_next_vote_pair(
     content: &ContentState,
     current_left: &ItemId,
     current_right: &ItemId,
+    pool_parent: Option<&ItemId>,
 ) -> Option<(ItemId, ItemId)> {
-    let pool: Vec<ItemId> = if current_left.parent().as_ref().map(|p| p.as_str())
+    let pool: Vec<ItemId> = if let Some(parent) = pool_parent {
+        content
+            .item_children
+            .get(parent)
+            .map(|s| s.iter().cloned().collect())
+            .unwrap_or_default()
+    } else if current_left.parent().as_ref().map(|p| p.as_str())
         == current_right.parent().as_ref().map(|p| p.as_str())
     {
         current_left
@@ -322,10 +342,14 @@ pub(super) fn vote_compare_item_card(
 }
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
 pub struct VoteCompareQuery {
-    pub left: String,
-    pub right: String,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub left: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub right: Option<String>,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub thread: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub pool: Option<String>,
 }
 
 /// Public pairwise vote UI — `/vote?left=&right=&thread=`.
@@ -376,17 +400,53 @@ async fn vote_compare_inner(
     jar: CookieJar,
     uri: Uri,
 ) -> axum::response::Response {
-    let left = match ItemId::parse(q.left.trim()) {
-        Some(i) => i.normalized_storage(),
-        None => return (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "bad left item").into_response(),
+    let pool_id: Option<ItemId> = match q.pool.as_deref() {
+        Some(p) => match ItemId::parse(p.trim()) {
+            Some(i) => Some(i.normalized_storage()),
+            None => return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "bad pool item").into_response(),
+        },
+        None => None,
     };
-    let right = match ItemId::parse(q.right.trim()) {
-        Some(i) => i.normalized_storage(),
-        None => return (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "bad right item").into_response(),
+
+    let (left, right) = match (q.left.as_deref(), q.right.as_deref()) {
+        (Some(l), Some(r)) => {
+            let left = match ItemId::parse(l.trim()) {
+                Some(i) => i.normalized_storage(),
+                None => return (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "bad left item").into_response(),
+            };
+            let right = match ItemId::parse(r.trim()) {
+                Some(i) => i.normalized_storage(),
+                None => return (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "bad right item").into_response(),
+            };
+            if left == right {
+                return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "items must differ").into_response();
+            }
+            (left, right)
+        }
+        (None, None) => {
+            let Some(pool) = pool_id.as_ref() else {
+                return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "provide left+right or pool").into_response();
+            };
+            let reduced = state.reduced.read().await;
+            let content = content_for_garden_view(&reduced, &nav.scope());
+            let children: Vec<ItemId> = content
+                .item_children
+                .get(pool)
+                .map(|s| s.iter().cloned().collect())
+                .unwrap_or_default();
+            if children.len() < 2 {
+                drop(reduced);
+                return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "pool has fewer than 2 children to compare").into_response();
+            }
+            let pair = suggest_next_pair_in_pool(&content.ranking_group, &children, None);
+            drop(reduced);
+            match pair {
+                Some(p) => p,
+                None => return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "no pairs available in pool").into_response(),
+            }
+        }
+        _ => return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "provide both left and right, or just pool").into_response(),
     };
-    if left == right {
-        return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "items must differ").into_response();
-    }
 
     let reduced = state.reduced.read().await;
     let content = content_for_garden_view(&reduced, &nav.scope());
@@ -409,7 +469,7 @@ async fn vote_compare_inner(
     let left_body = content.item_bodies.get(&left).cloned();
     let right_body = content.item_bodies.get(&right).cloned();
     let item_bodies_for_cards = content.item_bodies.clone();
-    let next_pair = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, &left, &right);
+    let next_pair = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, &left, &right, pool_id.as_ref());
     drop(reduced);
 
     let title = format!(
@@ -432,6 +492,7 @@ async fn vote_compare_inner(
         "ratio_right": {"$form": "ratio_right"},
         "explanation": {"$form": "explanation"},
         "next": next_path,
+        "pool": pool_id.as_ref().map(|p| p.as_str()),
         "form_action": "/ui",
     }))
     .expect("vote compare rpc json");
@@ -456,7 +517,7 @@ async fn vote_compare_inner(
                 Some(&item_bodies_for_cards),
             ))
         }
-        (vote_compare_nav_markup(&nav, next_pair.as_ref()))
+        (vote_compare_nav_markup(&nav, next_pair.as_ref(), pool_id.as_ref()))
         div id="vote-edge-history-region" {
             (edge_history)
         }
diff --git a/server/src/html/ui_action.rs b/server/src/html/ui_action.rs
index dd5294202569454acf9f41b458718700bbf96f39..2589a2cc00bb7b18cd19ebcbb938083122d6921d 100644
--- a/server/src/html/ui_action.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/ui_action.rs
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ pub enum HtmlUiAction {
         explanation: String,
         /// Same-origin path after successful post (JS redirect).
         next: String,
+        /// Pool parent item path, if the vote was initiated from a pool URL.
+        #[serde(default)]
+        pool: Option<String>,
         #[serde(default = "default_ui_form_action")]
         form_action: String,
     },