diff --git a/src/rust/inference_trace/src/lib.rs b/src/rust/inference_trace/src/lib.rs
index 0ab30748..d4e68042 100644
--- a/src/rust/inference_trace/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/rust/inference_trace/src/lib.rs
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ pub fn price_for(model: &str) -> Option<f64> {
 /// _trace_dir port: explicit arg wins, else <rune_home>/state.
 pub fn trace_dir(explicit: Option<&str>, rune_home: &str) -> String {
     match explicit {
-        Some(d) => d.trim_end_matches('/').to_string(),
+        Some(d) => d.trim_end_matches('/').to_owned(),
         None => format!("{rune_home}/state"),
     }
 }
@@ -70,19 +70,20 @@ pub fn serialize(trace: &Value) -> String {
 /// rotate_plan port: the ordered os.replace sequence for one rotation pass
 /// (I1 general-182: guard tests the SOURCE; loop covers BACKUPS..1 so the
 /// oldest slot is reachable). Returns [{from, to}] in execution order; the
-/// facade performs each replace whose `from` currently exists.
+/// facade performs each replace whose `from` currently exists. The newest
+/// pair (source = live file) sorts LAST so the facade executes oldest-first.
 pub fn rotate_plan(name: &str, backups: u32) -> Value {
-    let pairs: Vec<Value> = (1..=backups)
-        .rev()
+    let mut pairs: Vec<Value> = (1..=backups)
         .map(|i| {
             let newer = if i == 1 {
-                name.to_string()
+                name.to_owned()
             } else {
                 format!("{name}.{}", i - 1)
             };
             json!({"from": newer, "to": format!("{name}.{i}")})
         })
         .collect();
+    pairs.reverse();
     Value::Array(pairs)
 }
 
@@ -94,11 +95,13 @@ pub fn should_rotate(current_size: i64, rotate_bytes: i64) -> bool {
 /// read_select port: json.loads per non-blank line; `limit` trims to the
 /// last N lines BEFORE parsing (the oracle slices the splitlines list).
 pub fn read_select(raw: &str, limit: Option<usize>) -> Value {
-    let mut lines: Vec<&str> = raw.lines().collect();
-    if let Some(n) = limit {
-        let start = lines.len().saturating_sub(n);
-        lines = lines[start..].to_vec();
-    }
+    let lines: Vec<&str> = match limit {
+        Some(n) => {
+            let v: Vec<&str> = raw.lines().collect();
+            v.into_iter().rev().take(n).collect::<Vec<_>>().into_iter().rev().collect()
+        }
+        None => raw.lines().collect(),
+    };
     Value::Array(
         lines
             .iter()
@@ -157,15 +160,9 @@ fn format_value(v: &Value, depth: usize, out: &mut String) {
 /// cli_tail port: main() body — the full stdout text for tailing `count`
 /// records (each record pretty-printed + newline) and the 0 exit code.
 pub fn cli_tail(records: &[Value], count: Option<usize>) -> Value {
-    let trimmed: Vec<Value> = match count {
-        Some(n) => records
-            .iter()
-            .rev()
-            .take(n)
-            .rev()
-            .cloned()
-            .collect(),
-        None => records.to_vec(),
+    let trimmed: Vec<&Value> = match count {
+        Some(n) => records.iter().rev().take(n).collect::<Vec<_>>().into_iter().rev().collect(),
+        None => records.iter().collect(),
     };
     let mut out = String::new();
     for r in &trimmed {