diff --git a/engine-proto/gram-test/Engine.jl b/engine-proto/gram-test/Engine.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ab7272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/engine-proto/gram-test/Engine.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+module Engine
+
+using LinearAlgebra
+using SparseArrays
+
+export Q, DescentHistory, realize_gram
+
+# the Lorentz form
+Q = diagm([1, 1, 1, 1, -1])
+
+# the difference between the matrices `target` and `attempt`, projected onto the
+# subspace of matrices whose entries vanish at each empty index of `target`
+function proj_diff(target::SparseMatrixCSC{T, <:Any}, attempt::Matrix{T}) where T
+  J, K, values = findnz(target)
+  result = zeros(size(target)...)
+  for (j, k, val) in zip(J, K, values)
+    result[j, k] = val - attempt[j, k]
+  end
+  result
+end
+
+# a type for keeping track of gradient descent history
+struct DescentHistory{T}
+  scaled_loss::Array{T}
+  stepsize::Array{T}
+  backoff_steps::Array{Int64}
+  
+  function DescentHistory{T}(
+    scaled_loss = Array{T}(undef, 0),
+    stepsize = Array{T}(undef, 0),
+    backoff_steps = Int64[]
+  ) where T
+    new(scaled_loss, stepsize, backoff_steps)
+  end
+end
+
+# seek a matrix `L` for which `L'QL` matches the sparse matrix `gram` at every
+# explicit entry of `gram`. use gradient descent starting from `guess`
+function realize_gram(
+  gram::SparseMatrixCSC{T, <:Any},
+  guess::Matrix{T};
+  scaled_tol = 1e-30,
+  target_improvement = 0.5,
+  init_stepsize = 1.0,
+  backoff = 0.9,
+  max_descent_steps = 600,
+  max_backoff_steps = 110
+) where T <: Number
+  # start history
+  history = DescentHistory{T}()
+  
+  # scale tolerance
+  scale_adjustment = sqrt(T(nnz(gram)))
+  tol = scale_adjustment * scaled_tol
+  
+  # initialize variables
+  stepsize = init_stepsize
+  L = copy(guess)
+  
+  # do gradient descent
+  Δ_proj = proj_diff(gram, L'*Q*L)
+  loss = norm(Δ_proj)
+  for step in 1:max_descent_steps
+    # stop if the loss is tolerably low
+    if loss < tol
+      break
+    end
+    
+    # find negative gradient of loss function
+    neg_grad = 4*Q*L*Δ_proj
+    slope = norm(neg_grad)
+    
+    # store current position and loss
+    L_last = L
+    loss_last = loss
+    push!(history.scaled_loss, loss / scale_adjustment)
+    
+    # find a good step size using backtracking line search
+    push!(history.stepsize, 0)
+    push!(history.backoff_steps, max_backoff_steps)
+    for backoff_steps in 0:max_backoff_steps
+      history.stepsize[end] = stepsize
+      L = L_last + stepsize * neg_grad
+      Δ_proj = proj_diff(gram, L'*Q*L)
+      loss = norm(Δ_proj)
+      improvement = loss_last - loss
+      if improvement >= target_improvement * stepsize * slope
+        history.backoff_steps[end] = backoff_steps
+        break
+      end
+      stepsize *= backoff
+    end
+  end
+  
+  # return the factorization and its history
+  push!(history.scaled_loss, loss / scale_adjustment)
+  L, history
+end
+
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/engine-proto/gram-test/descent-test.jl b/engine-proto/gram-test/descent-test.jl
index 168de5d..0c66311 100644
--- a/engine-proto/gram-test/descent-test.jl
+++ b/engine-proto/gram-test/descent-test.jl
@@ -1,28 +1,9 @@
-using LinearAlgebra
+include("Engine.jl")
+
 using SparseArrays
 using AbstractAlgebra
 using PolynomialRoots
 
-# testing Gram matrix recovery using a homemade gradient descent routine
-
-# === gradient descent ===
-
-# the difference between the matrices `target` and `attempt`, projected onto the
-# subspace of matrices whose entries vanish at each empty index of `target`
-function proj_diff(target, attempt)
-  J, K, values = findnz(target)
-  result = zeros(BigFloat, size(target)...)
-  for (j, k, val) in zip(J, K, values)
-    result[j, k] = val - attempt[j, k]
-  end
-  result
-end
-
-# === example ===
-
-# the Lorentz form
-Q = diagm([1, 1, 1, 1, -1])
-
 # initialize the partial gram matrix for an arrangement of seven spheres in
 # which spheres 1 through 5 are mutually tangent, and spheres 3 through 7 are
 # also mutually tangent
@@ -61,50 +42,13 @@ guess = sqrt(0.5) * BigFloat[
   1  1  1  1  2        0.2  0.1;
 ]
 
-# search parameters
-steps = 600
-line_search_max_steps = 100
-init_stepsize = BigFloat(1)
-step_shrink_factor = BigFloat(0.9)
-target_improvement_factor = BigFloat(0.5)
-
 # complete the gram matrix using gradient descent
-loss_history = Array{BigFloat}(undef, steps + 1)
-stepsize_history = Array{BigFloat}(undef, steps)
-line_search_depth_history = fill(line_search_max_steps, steps)
-stepsize = init_stepsize
-L = copy(guess)
-Δ_proj = proj_diff(gram, L'*Q*L)
-loss = norm(Δ_proj)
-for step in 1:steps
-  # find negative gradient of loss function
-  neg_grad = 4*Q*L*Δ_proj
-  slope = norm(neg_grad)
-  
-  # store current position and loss
-  L_last = L
-  loss_last = loss
-  loss_history[step] = loss
-  
-  # find a good step size using backtracking line search
-  for line_search_depth in 1:line_search_max_steps
-    stepsize_history[step] = stepsize
-    global L = L_last + stepsize * neg_grad
-    global Δ_proj = proj_diff(gram, L'*Q*L)
-    global loss = norm(Δ_proj)
-    improvement = loss_last - loss
-    if improvement >= target_improvement_factor * stepsize * slope
-      line_search_depth_history[step] = line_search_depth
-      break
-    end
-    global stepsize *= step_shrink_factor
-  end
-end
-completed_gram = L'*Q*L
-loss_history[steps + 1] = loss
+L, history = Engine.realize_gram(gram, guess)
+completed_gram = L'*Engine.Q*L
 println("Completed Gram matrix:\n")
 display(completed_gram)
-println("\nLoss: ", loss, "\n")
+println("\nSteps: ", size(history.stepsize, 1))
+println("Loss: ", history.scaled_loss[end], "\n")
 
 # === algebraic check ===