diff --git a/wizard-work/beam/CHECK_DL b/wizard-work/beam/CHECK_DL
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..f44d1bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wizard-work/beam/CHECK_DL
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+cd "$(dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")")"
+python3 test_damerau_levenshtein.py
diff --git a/wizard-work/beam/damerau_levenshtein.py b/wizard-work/beam/damerau_levenshtein.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..028dbb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wizard-work/beam/damerau_levenshtein.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+"""Damerau-Levenshtein edit distance (true DL, not OSA)."""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+
+def damerau_levenshtein(a: str, b: str) -> int:
+    la, lb = len(a), len(b)
+    if la == 0:
+        return lb
+    if lb == 0:
+        return la
+
+    last = {}
+    INF = la + lb
+    d = [[0] * (lb + 2) for _ in range(la + 2)]
+    d[0][0] = INF
+    for i in range(1, la + 2):
+        d[i][0] = INF
+        d[i][1] = i - 1
+    for j in range(1, lb + 2):
+        d[0][j] = INF
+        d[1][j] = j - 1
+
+    for i in range(1, la + 1):
+        db = 0
+        for j in range(1, lb + 1):
+            i1 = last.get(b[j - 1], 0)
+            j1 = db
+            cost = 1
+            if a[i - 1] == b[j - 1]:
+                cost = 0
+                db = j
+            d[i + 1][j + 1] = min(
+                d[i][j] + cost,
+                d[i + 1][j] + 1,
+                d[i][j + 1] + 1,
+            )
+            if i1 > 0 and j1 > 0:
+                d[i + 1][j + 1] = min(
+                    d[i + 1][j + 1],
+                    d[i1][j1] + (i - i1 - 1) + 1 + (j - j1 - 1),
+                )
+        last[a[i - 1]] = i
+
+    return d[la + 1][lb + 1]
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    import sys
+    print(damerau_levenshtein(sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2]))
diff --git a/wizard-work/beam/test_damerau_levenshtein.py b/wizard-work/beam/test_damerau_levenshtein.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f97b67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wizard-work/beam/test_damerau_levenshtein.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import sys
+sys.path.insert(0, "/root/.hermes/wizard-outputs/beam")
+from damerau_levenshtein import damerau_levenshtein as dl
+
+# known values
+assert dl("", "") == 0
+assert dl("a", "") == 1
+assert dl("", "a") == 1
+assert dl("ca", "abc") == 2  # transpose? ca->ac is 1 transposition +? 
+# classic: "CA" -> "ABC": distance? 
+assert dl("abcd", "abdc") == 1, dl("abcd","abdc")  # transposition dc
+assert dl("ab", "ba") == 1
+assert dl("abc", "acb") == 1  # transpose b/c
+# true DL allows multiple ops on same substring: "CA" -> "ABC" = 2? OSA would be 2 too maybe
+print("basic ok")
+
+# cross-check vs Levenshtein (stdlib difflib not exact). Use simple lev.
+def lev(a,b):
+    if not a: return len(b)
+    if not b: return len(a)
+    prev=list(range(len(b)+1))
+    for i,ca in enumerate(a,1):
+        cur=[i]
+        for j,cb in enumerate(b,1):
+            cur.append(min(prev[j]+1, cur[-1]+1, prev[j-1]+(ca!=cb)))
+        prev=cur
+    return prev[-1]
+
+import random
+random.seed(42)
+for _ in range(2000):
+    n=random.randint(0,8)
+    m=random.randint(0,8)
+    a=''.join(random.choice('ab') for _ in range(n))
+    b=''.join(random.choice('ab') for _ in range(m))
+    # DL <= lev always (more ops allowed)
+    assert dl(a,b) <= lev(a,b), (a,b,dl(a,b),lev(a,b))
+print("monotonic ok")