Each of the three lost or rewrote an instruction before the model saw it.
1. Orphan corrective nudges. pushBack() and the final tools-disabled emission
built their nudge as a toolResult with a fresh sourceId, so it had no matching
assistantToolCall and reconcileToolPairs() deleted it — the orchestrator
believed it had corrected the model while the correction never reached the
prompt. Affected the invalid-emit_artifact, premature-stage_complete,
missing-write, read-loop, rejection-loop and final-JSON nudges. They are now
USER turns (sourceType orchestratorCorrection, REQUIRED bucket, STRUCTURED in
ContextClassifier so pruning cannot shred them), appended last so the builder's
positional ordinal puts them at the end of the transcript. A superseded nudge
is dropped rather than stacking stale demands.
2. Steering laundered through the router. The SteeringNoteAddedEvent carried the
router model's paraphrase of the operator's message, not the message —
negations, filenames, constraints and priority could change before the
orchestrator saw them. It now carries the raw input; the router turn is still
produced and shown as conversational acknowledgement, it is just not the
mandate. Resolves the ponytail: note at TalkieFacade.kt:220.
3. Journal compaction erased its own history. compactIfNeeded() summarized only
state.records while the reducer overwrote summaryArtifactId and dropped covered
records, so the second compaction lost everything the first had preserved — and
a low-salience-only batch replaced it with the "(no high-salience decisions)"
fallback. Compaction is cumulative now, and a blank or fallback-only rewrite
never replaces real history.
Tests: rendered-prompt regression for (1) — verified to fail against the old
toolResult shape — updated steering expectations for (2), two cumulative-compaction
tests for (3). Full build green, 1831 tests, 0 failures.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The run died on a build gate running the wrong toolchain and burned 43% of its
tool calls on repeats, rejections and failures. Five fixes, each traceable to a
measured cost in docs/audits/2026-08-11-session-954da1a9-postmortem.md.
#705 build gate toolchain scope. The gate is armed session-scoped but read the
toolchain stage-scoped, so a reviewer stage that wrote nothing fell back to the
flat `build` alias and ran ./gradlew assemble on an all-frontend session. It now
falls back to the session's own manifest first. 32.5 min, 33% of that run.
#706 action ledger. L2 keeps ten conversation entries, so a stage past round
five has no memory of what it tried; 29% of tool calls were byte-identical
repeats. One pinned line per call (tool, target, outcome) with repeats collapsed
to a count, ~3k tokens for a whole run.
#709 plan-compile lint for blocked runners. Plans prescribed `npx tailwindcss
init -p`, rejected by the shell denylist at every attempt. Rejected at compile
time now, where the architect can still rewrite the step.
#710 near-greedy sampling on tool-call rounds. temperature 1.0 on argv emitted
`./gradlew_`, `npm_prefix=frontend`, `create_vite@latest`. Prose rounds keep the
operator's sampling.
#712 auto-approve manifest-contained writes. 94 approvals, all APPROVED, no
steering, 19 min. A write inside the declared manifest already proved its
containment by getting past ManifestContainmentRule. DENY mode still denies.
Tests: core:kernel 133, infrastructure:workflow 99, testing:integration 176,
testing:deterministic 79, all green. detekt clean (no new findings).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013dVqqci5H5b3s6xzv6Lojq
The system block is now for content that does not change during a run.
Anything the run mutates renders as a user message — both because a
mutating system prefix defeats prompt caching and because models
under-weight system-folded content against the trailing user turn.
PromptRenderer: role alone decides the message type; the old
`layer == L0 ||` clause is gone. That clause was silently overriding
role on four packs (InferenceSummarizer, SemanticReviewerImpl,
CapabilityGapReflectorImpl, Talkie session-naming) which are L0+USER
prompts — they were rendering as a system-only request with no user
turn at all.
Re-roled SYSTEM -> USER, all mutable within a run:
recoveryTicket, remainingDelta, groundingFeedback, rejectionFeedback
(trailing slot), plus verifiedBaseline, promotedConcept, claimedTask,
clarificationAnswer, locked steeringNote, factSheet (inline, still
L0-pinned).
Left SYSTEM (immutable): systemPrompt, operatingGuidance,
schemaInstruction, projectProfile, operatorProfile, agentInstructions,
successfulPlanShape.
Trailing-slot scarcity guard: repairMandateSourceTypes joined ALL
matches, so a recovery stage on a retry with an unmet delta would stack
three competing mandates. Now a precedence list emits exactly one
(recoveryTicket > retryFeedback > groundingFeedback > rejectionFeedback)
with remainingDelta appended as the completion signal.
ContextClassifier keys STATIC on layer alone — L0 means pinned/never
pruned regardless of role, so the re-roled L0 entries don't fall through
to FREEFORM and get token-pruned.
Also fixes a stale ContextFeedbackTest assertion (expected a CAS hash
the producer deliberately stopped emitting) and a stale initialIntent
doc comment claiming L0/SYSTEM where the code says L1/USER.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
The shipped Store 1 persisted repo-file descriptors in a new SqliteObservationStore
— a second, unsynchronized SQLite writer on the event-log DB (no WAL/busy_timeout,
one shared Connection across coroutines) holding a fact the log already carries. That
violates "the event log is the only source of truth" (inv #1/#8): an Observation is
just FileWrittenEvent.path + postImageHash + describe(bytes).render(), and render is a
pure function of content-addressed CAS bytes.
Replace the whole durable apparatus with an in-process memo (descriptorMemo, keyed on
repoRoot+path+contentHash) on the orchestrator, next to the existing artifactContentCache.
Rebuilt from the log on restart, disposable, no external store. Preserves the perf win
(skip CAS read + regex on repeat describes) with none of the concurrency/lock risk.
Deletes: ObservationStore/InMemoryObservationStore/SqliteObservationStore (+ tests),
InfrastructureModule.createObservationStore, the FileReadTool priming path (which never
hit anyway — it keyed on a workspace-relative path while every consumer looks up the
absolute FileWrittenEvent.path), the FileReadConfig/SessionOrchestrator plumbing, and
five orphaned build.gradle deps.
Store 2 (soft-confidence hints) unchanged — it was correct.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01HMbPmZZjcXhR2crU82zZ8S
Adds ObservationStore (core:context) keyed on (repoRoot, path), an in-memory default and
a durable SqliteObservationStore (infrastructure:persistence), and wires it into the two
SessionOrchestratorArtifacts call sites that re-derive a SourceDescriptor from CAS bytes
on every call — a hit on matching content hash skips both the CAS read and the regex
extraction. First slice of docs/plans/2026-07-21-acr-knowledge-accretion.md (build order:
observations before fixes/plan-shapes).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01HMbPmZZjcXhR2crU82zZ8S
A stage (configure_ethos_theme) looped forever re-writing an identical
postcss.config.js: file_write returned "written successfully" on a byte-
identical write, and the retry-feedback entry that says WHY it failed got
truncated out of context every turn, so the model cold-started on the same
wrong idea. CAS hashes leaked into its face from two sides too.
- SandboxedToolExecutor: a write whose result is byte-identical to disk now
returns "No change: … nothing was written" (+ noop=true) instead of a false
success signal. Uses the pre-image hashes already captured for reversibility.
- DefaultContextPackBuilder: pin "retryFeedback" in neverDropSourceTypes so the
failure reason + already-written-files list survives truncation.
- ContextFeedback: drop the opaque "— CAS <hash>" from the retry entry; path only.
- tool_output withheld until the session actually spills over-cap output to CAS
(StageConfig.ALWAYS_AVAILABLE_READ_TOOLS -> on-demand via sessionHasSpilledOutput),
so a hash-eating tool isn't advertised to every stage that never spills.
- Wrap 10 long lines in kernel to bring detekt back under maxIssues (99 -> 89).
Tests: infrastructure:tools (+2 no-op cases), core:{transitions,context,kernel} green.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
A successful file_write/file_edit echoes the whole file body (+ diff) back in
its tool result — up to ~30k chars, which pushed the traced Gemma4 request past
its context window. The write already happened and its full output is durable in
the event log/CAS; the model only needs a receipt that it landed. Replace each
exit=0 write result with a one-line receipt (path + elision marker) in the
context builder; reads, gate output, and nonzero-exit writes stay verbatim.
Derived-only pass over the transcript — authoritative events are untouched, so
it's replay-safe.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Threads reasoning_content across inference calls and journal renders, filters
markdown noise out of L3 repo-knowledge retrieval, adds PlanLinter H3 checks,
and tightens filesystem tool output/dir-listing behavior surfaced by prior
live QA (see project_readloop_campaign memory).
Context rework from the 2026-07-05 context-poisoning diagnosis (session
6ca236c4 read-loop):
- ContextBucket on ContextEntry: REQUIRED (task, constraints, needed
artifacts, failure feedback) is never pruned/compressed/dropped; the
build fails fast (RequiredContextOverflowException -> non-retryable
stage failure) if required alone exceeds the stage budget.
- OptionalCeilings: per-sourceType token caps for the optional block
(repoMap 1200, relevantFiles 1600, journal 800, profiles 400/600,
vocabulary 400), tuned for the 9-26B tier at 16k; enforced by
truncation (journal keeps its tail, others their head).
- Repo map is now a structural 'what exists' listing (alphabetical,
per-directory, no recency ranking, no symbols); .md/docs paths are
gated behind an explicit docs mention in the stage prompt — retrieval
hits remain the only other path for docs to enter context.
- file_written needs render as a manifest of ALL files the producing
stage wrote (projected from ArtifactContentStored -> ToolInvocation
-> FileWritten events), fixing the last-write-wins collapse; content
stays lazy behind file_read.
- Decision journal folds a stage's RETRY records into one summary line
once a later transition leaves that stage (render-time only).
- Dedupe retrieved-file lines in buildRelevantFilesEntry.
Found while live-QAing freestyle_planning on a 12B local model:
- list_dir tool: recursive, .gitignore-aware listing so weak models stop
flooding context with `ls -R` over node_modules/build/dist. Wired into
the fileRead toggle + advertised to the planner (architect_freestyle).
- ContextClassifier: assistantToolCall turns are STRUCTURED, so the token
pruner never shreds the model's own tool-call history — that was causing
amnesia loops (re-issuing calls it had already made).
- Retire instruction-doc LLMLingua pruning (DOC_SOURCE_TYPES emptied): it
fused load-bearing procedural text into unparseable soup. The static
block stays small by dropping CLAUDE.md at the loader instead.
- AgentInstructionsLoader: load only AGENTS.md, not CLAUDE.md — the latter
targets the outer assistant and polluted the agent's stage context.
- DefaultSessionReducer: WorkflowFailed flips session status to FAILED (was
stuck ACTIVE forever, so clients/approval loops never saw a terminal).
- ShellTool: run shell command lines (cd/&&/pipes) via `sh -c`; unrunnable
program is recoverable instead of an uncaught IOException killing the
stage; malformed argv (non-string/collapsed-array) rejected with guidance.
- llmlingua sidecar: cap force_tokens to max_force_token (big docs blew the
assert and 500'd, so doc pruning silently failed open).
Tests added/updated across all of the above.
The big win the pipeline missed: projectProfile + agentInstructions doc dumps
(~14k chars) are L0-SYSTEM -> STATIC -> never pruned, re-sent verbatim every turn.
Now pruned via the same TokenPruner at a gentler ratio (keep 60% vs 45% freeform),
protected spans (code fences/paths/keys) kept so directives survive. Gated by
TOKEN_PRUNE (level 3+); base systemPrompt stays verbatim.
ContextSummarizedEvent (registered) keyed on stable session sequence, not the
ephemeral pack ordinal, so replay reuses the recorded summary artifact and never
re-calls the LLM (invariants #6/#8). TierContextSummarizer mirrors
JournalCompactionService for freeform context (tool outputs/docs/retrieved text)
the journal path doesn't cover. ContextState + DefaultContextReducer fold the
event; reducer replay-safety unit-tested.
FactSheet derives load-bearing spans (newest-first, capped) and pins them as an
L0 SYSTEM entry never dropped by the compressor (level 7). Event-derived each
assembly, not a persisted file, per invariant #1. Strict budget allocation
(level 9) compresses structured groups before freeform so conversation can't
starve tool logs / artifacts.
Root Child DOX Index assembled, plus a per-module AGENTS.md across the tree
(core/*, infrastructure/*, apps/*, testing/*, and docs/examples/frontend/etc),
each following the DOX section shape: Purpose, Ownership, Local Contracts,
Work Guidance, Verification, Child DOX Index.
Tool-calling loops were rendered as all-assistant-calls-then-all-tool-results
with the original task last, causing the model to re-issue the same tool call
indefinitely. Two stacked reorderings caused it:
- DefaultContextPackBuilder grouped entries by sourceType for per-type
compression, discarding a,t,a,t interleaving.
- PromptRenderer forced L1 (the live user turn) to render last, pushing the
task after the entire transcript.
- SessionOrchestrator's tool loop re-fed currentContext.layers.values.flatten()
(grouped by layer) each round, compounding the scramble.
Add a chronological `ordinal` to ContextEntry, stamped by the builder from
input order and restored after grouping/compression (the compressor preserves
entry identity, so ordinals survive). PromptRenderer now orders non-system
messages by ordinal, with the old L1-last layer priority kept only as a
tiebreak so router chat (ordinal 0) is unchanged. The orchestrator keeps a
running ordered accumulator instead of reading back the grouped pack.
Adds builder + renderer ordering regression tests.
P4-1: Wire steering to actually work (advisory-only):
- RouterFacade emits SteeringNoteAddedEvent via event store in STEERING mode
- SessionOrchestrator reads steering notes from event store and includes them
as ContextEntry objects (sourceType=steeringNote) in stage context packs
- Delete dead SteeringNote data class; single vocabulary = SteeringNoteAddedEvent
- Add optional validateSteering callback to DefaultRouterFacade for future
ValidationPipeline wiring (avoids cross-core dependency)
- Update RouterFacadeTest to assert event emission
P4-2: Router FACE — move hardcoded generation config:
- Add GenerationConfig field to RouterConfig with same defaults
- RouterFacade uses config.generationConfig instead of inline literals
- (Remaining P4-2 items: conversation persistence and coordination
semantics are design decisions requiring ADRs, deferred)
P2-1: Guard SessionId NPE with safe-call in SessionsReducer
P2-2: Remove 16 dead event classes + reducer branches; replace with live orchestration events in tests
P2-3: Standardize ChatInput divergences — guard CancelSession, single-arg ProtocolError
P2-4: Remove dead TuiToolRecord.diff and ToolDisplayStatus.REQUESTED
P2-5: Remove dead streamLive from SessionEventBridge
P2-6: Extract SessionsReducerContext data class for 6+ param method
P2-7: Replace StageId("none") sentinel with TypeId.NONE
P2-9: Add TypeId.random() factory on all type-alias IDs
P2-10: Add KDoc on schemaVersion documenting reserved-for-migration
P2-8: Verified RouterReducer string-template already correct (TypeId value class toString)
- GlobalStreamHandler.handleCreateGrant validates scope (SESSION/STAGE)
and sends ProtocolError to client on validation failure instead of
silent log.warn + drop.
- Derive event stageId directly from GrantScope type, removing
redundant stageIdForEvent tuple.
- SessionOrchestrator integrates ApprovalEngine to check active grants
before requesting user approval for T2+ tool calls.
- ContextEntry gains EntryRole (SYSTEM/USER/ASSISTANT/TOOL) field for
proper chat message role mapping.
- RouterContextBuilder.build is now suspend; uses Tokenizer for
accurate token estimation with fallback to character-based estimate.
- LlamaCppInferenceProvider maps EntryRole to ChatMessage role instead
of heuristic layer-based inference.
Implements the full conversational router facade: RouterState, RouterReducer,
RouterProjector, RouterRepository, RouterContextBuilder, RouterFacade, protocol
types, WebSocket wiring, infrastructure factory, and deterministic test suite.
Also fixes spec divergences found in post-implementation review:
- Add SteeringNote domain object to core:context (epic prerequisite)
- Rename RouterFacade.handleChat → onUserInput per spec interface contract
- Add in-memory ConcurrentHashMap conversation history to DefaultRouterFacade
- Make RouterRepository.getRouterState suspend
- Rename RouterConfig.keepLast → conversationKeepLast, fix defaults (6, 4096)
- Refactor InfrastructureModule.createRouterFacade to self-assemble internally
- Fix FileReadTool: allowedPaths was dead constructor param (@SuppressUnusedParameter);
now stored as private val and enforced in validateRequest
- Disable koverVerify on modules tested via testing/ submodules or with
hardware/integration dependencies (24 modules); build gate now passes clean
Deletes 21 Module.kt scaffolding objects that were never wired into any DI
registry. Removes unused imports across 8 production and 3 test files.
Restores StageExecutor, CyclePolicyResolver, PolicyValidation, and
ReplayContractTest — these are deferred features, not dead code.
claude
kami