refactor(server): restructure agent launch guidance as numbered list - #400
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Rewrites the launch-time startup rules from a single run-on paragraph
into a scannable numbered list, and rephrases the session-rename rule
in active voice with a concrete trigger ("As soon as you understand
the user's concrete task — typically on your first substantive reply").
The old phrasing — "If your session still has the default generated
name, wait until you understand the user's concrete task, then call
dispatch_rename_session…" — buried the instruction mid-paragraph as
a deferred conditional, competing with surrounding active-voice
mandates (dispatch_event, dispatch_pin, create_pr). Agents were
skimming past it.
No change in meaning or tool usage; token cost is within 1%.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Adds two structural assertions to agent-manager.test.ts so a
regression that silently re-joined the rules array into a paragraph
(e.g. swapping .join("\n") for .join(" ")) would fail the suite.
Addresses architecture-review feedback on PR #400.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Adjustments to the session-rename rule added in the previous commit: - Drop "concrete task" in favor of "topic of work … topic, task, or feature." The name describes the subject of the session, not a rigidly-defined unit of work. - Drop "typically on your first substantive reply" — premature for sessions where the topic takes a few turns of back-and-forth to surface. - Drop "call … once" and "Don't rename again unless the user starts a separate task or explicitly asks." Replace with explicit permission to rename if the work shifts substantially to a new topic. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Summary
Rewrites the startup rules that Dispatch injects into every agent launch from a single run-on paragraph into a scannable numbered list, and rephrases the session-rename rule in active voice with a concrete trigger.
The session-rename instruction had degraded over time — agents were skimming past it because:
dispatch_event,dispatch_pin,create_pr, AutoReview flow, etc.).dispatch_eventanddispatch_pin, it's not reinforced inCLAUDE.mdorAGENTS.md.Changes:
apps/server/src/agents/manager.ts: builds rules as astring[], numbers them on output. Rename is now rule fix(web): catch agent-status API failure during terminal reconnect #2, phrased actively: "Name the session. As soon as you understand the user's concrete task — typically on your first substantive reply — call dispatch_rename_session once…". Same rules, same meaning, just structured.apps/server/test/db/agent-manager.test.ts: three assertions updated to match the new wording.Token cost is within ~1% of the old prose (~20 extra tokens for the numbering).
Test plan
pnpm run check— server + web type checkpnpm --filter @dispatch/server test— 431 passing, 11 skippedpnpm run test:e2e— 144 passing, 6 skipped🤖 Generated with Claude Code