fix: context overflow sentinel and coordinator size reduction#1035
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obit91 wants to merge 5 commits intobradygaster:devfrom
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fix: context overflow sentinel and coordinator size reduction#1035obit91 wants to merge 5 commits intobradygaster:devfrom
obit91 wants to merge 5 commits intobradygaster:devfrom
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When sessions grow long, the ~84KB squad.agent.md coordinator file can be silently dropped from context, causing Squad to degrade to a vanilla Copilot agent with no safety rails (no PRs, no branch protection, no agent routing). Solution 1 — Sentinel: Add a coordinator-presence check to copilot-instructions.md (always loaded, ~3KB). When the coordinator is missing, the agent warns loudly and refuses to work silently. Solution 2 — Size reduction: Extract detailed content from squad.agent.md into 5 on-demand reference files, reducing it from ~84KB to ~55KB (33% smaller). Extracted sections: model selection, client compatibility, spawn templates, after-agent-work steps, and worktree lifecycle. New template files: - model-selection-reference.md - client-compatibility-reference.md - spawn-reference.md - after-agent-reference.md - worktree-reference.md Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
- Remove hard-coded ~80KB size estimate from copilot-instructions.md sentinel (size will change over time, keep description generic) - Add ralph-reference.md to .squad-templates/ and TEMPLATE_MANIFEST (was referenced by squad.agent.md but missing from template distribution) - Replace hard-coded 'main' branch in worktree-reference.md with default branch detection via git symbolic-ref - Add cross-worktree safety warning to squad.agent.md inline (main-checkout strategy not safe for concurrent sessions) Closes bradygaster#1017 Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
- Add response mode exemplars back inline (Direct/Lightweight/Standard/Full) - Expand ralph-reference.md with full work-check cycle details (gh commands, categorization table, periodic check-in, watch mode, three layers, board format, integration with follow-up work) - Add cross-worktree considerations to worktree-reference.md (worktree-local vs main-checkout strategy details) - Restore cross-worktree safety guidance inline in squad.agent.md Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Per review feedback from @tamirdresher: semantic self-inspection ('do you see coordinator instructions?') is unreliable for LLMs. Replace with deterministic canary token approach: - Add <!-- SQUAD_COORDINATOR_CANARY_a8f3 --> at end of squad.agent.md - copilot-instructions.md checks for exact token string - Catches both missing coordinator AND truncation (token at EOF) Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
…-only Content validation revealed that ralph-reference.md and casting-reference.md contained newly authored sections not present in the original squad.agent.md. ralph-reference.md: Removed Board Format state machine, Idle-Watch Mode, Activation Triggers, and Work-Check Termination sections (newly authored). Restored original Step 3 priority ordering bullet that was simplified. Kept only content that was inline in the original. casting-reference.md: Added note clarifying this is new specification material that fills a gap (the original referenced this file but never had the content inline). Universe table, selection algorithm, and JSON schemas are additive. Closes bradygaster#1017 Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
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Summary
Fixes #1017 — Squad coordinator silently drops in long sessions due to context overflow.
Problem
When sessions grow long, the ~84KB
squad.agent.mdcoordinator file can be silently dropped from<available_skills>due to context budget pressure. The session degrades to a vanilla Copilot agent with no safety rails and no warning — no agent routing, no PRs, no branch protection.Solution (two complementary fixes)
Canary token sentinel in
copilot-instructions.md— a deterministic<!-- SQUAD_COORDINATOR_CANARY_a8f3 -->token at the end ofsquad.agent.md. The always-loadedcopilot-instructions.mdchecks for this exact token. If missing (coordinator dropped or truncated), it warns loudly and refuses to proceed silently. This replaces the earlier semantic self-inspection approach per reviewer feedback.Size reduction of
squad.agent.mdfrom ~84KB → ~57KB (32% smaller) by extracting detailed reference content into on-demand files that agents load only when needed:after-agent-reference.md— post-work checklist, Scribe spawn templatecasting-reference.md— universe table, selection algorithm, state schemasclient-compatibility-reference.md— platform detection, VS Code adaptationsmodel-selection-reference.md— 4-layer model hierarchy, role mappingralph-reference.md— work-check cycle, idle-watch, board formatspawn-reference.md— full spawn template, lightweight templateworktree-reference.md— lifecycle management, dependency setupValidation
upstream/dev(unrelatedFSStorageProviderSDK export) — our changes are template-onlyupstream/dev(ec07f38)Review feedback addressed
Closes #1017