Two follow-up rulings on the explain tool:
1. No 'I don't know' row — not needed in free recall. If he doesn't
know, he says so in his own words; his text is the only answer
channel. Dock: text mode is rowless again (the composer IS the
surface); doctrine and the shared prompt chunk updated; the format
branch and card revert to quiz-only dontKnow.
2. explanation + correctAnswer collapse into ONE field — the separate
explanation was quiz remnant (MC needs the why outside its options;
a free-text commitment carries its own reasoning). Schema is now
{question, correctAnswer, details?}; the reveal shows the single
committed answer; no explanation snapshots anywhere on the explain
path.
1047/1047 tests, typecheck/lint/build green.
Sycophancy mitigation as a structural commitment: the model writes its
full correctAnswer (plus explanation, in that order) BEFORE the learner
sees the question; the commitment rides the persisted call args, is
revealed on submit, and grades his free text in the model's next reply —
the client never grades free recall.
- tools.explain setting (segmented 'Quizzing — Multiple choice | Free
recall' in Agent settings' Tools group): free arms explain and drops
quiz for BOTH agents (prober variant carries no nodeId, same pattern
as the probe quiz); mechanics keys never pass filterEnabledTools —
quiz stays unwritable (the 2026-09-19 wedge ruling stands)
- doctrine lives pi-natively in the tool descriptions (owner ruling —
no conditional system-prompt chunks): explain carries the commitment
rule; the MC option-building craft moved out of the prompt into the
quiz description; shared/20-question-tools.md slims to the
quiz-agnostic core
- display seams: parseExplainInput (LaTeX-debris restoration included),
dock text-mode with an 'I don't know' row (kbd row 0), AnsweredCard
reveal (The answer / Why, no verdict chips), [Explain answer] format
- phases/plan seams recognize both quizzing tools' nodeId tags; explain
answers deliberately feed no ledger evidence (no client grading to
key on — a future ruling can parse the model's grade)
1049/1049 tests, typecheck/lint/build green.
Three owner rulings from the gradient-descent session
(chat_muhskq6p_e8c3600b — 7 failed quiz calls, answers leaked in
option descriptions, planning divider floating at the transcript top):
1. RETRYING LINES (general): any tool call that errors back to the
agent (validation failure, malformed args — the retry loop) renders
one quiet "Retrying…" SystemLine instead of silence. Question tools
previously rendered null, so a flailing quiz loop read as a stall.
Aborts are terminal ("Operation aborted") and stay silent. Verified
live: exactly 7 lines render at the 7 failure sites of the session.
2. QUIZ OPTION DESCRIPTIONS: NUKED. The model used them to telegraph
correctness in every quiz of the session ("that moves uphill — it
climbs f instead of descending it") — answerable by elimination.
The field is gone from BOTH quiz schemas (probe + teach); ask keeps
it (ungraded — nothing to leak). The dock additionally suppresses
descriptions for quiz kind, so pre-fix records stop leaking too.
Verified live: the session's pending quiz renders bare labels.
Plus the diagnosed failure-mode fixes: GLM sometimes emits `options`
as a JSON-encoded string (6 of 7 failures). prepareArguments hooks
on all three question tools coerce it BEFORE pi's validation (the
call lands instead of bouncing); the client coerces again in
normalizeOptions (pi persists raw call args). Schema descriptions
hardened ("REQUIRED ... never a JSON-encoded string").
3. DIVIDERS AT THE MARKERS: the probe-handoff SystemLine
("Preparing your plan…") IS NOW the Planning divider; the accepted
verdict IS NOW the Teaching divider ("✓ Plan accepted" line gone) —
one signal per seam, not two. The fold-based divider block is
DELETED: Wave D grouping merged the whole probe into one giant
assistant group, so the inclusive-fold comparison floated the
divider to the transcript top (reproduced against the real record:
6 view messages, phase flipped at the giant group). The markers
render in the right spot by record construction. A DECLINED verdict
is not a seam — it keeps the "↻ Plan revision requested" line.
Verified live: plan divider after the probe concluded, teach
divider after the plan presentation, nothing at the top.
Tests: 1004/1004 — string-coercion pins (normalizeOptions + the
prepareArguments hooks on all three tools, identity fast path),
quiz-schema-has-no-description pin (ask keeps it).
- src/agent/lh-tool.ts deleted: the zod-wrapped LhTool + toPiTool bridge
(z.toJSONSchema per call, clientQuestion flag, hand-rolled result mapping)
is gone. Tools are pi-agent-core native AgentTools now.
- New src/agent/tool-execute.ts owns what the wrapper added: the abort guard
(runWithAbortGuard: run signal + 30s per-call timeout + 250ms grace,
'Operation aborted' / timeout wording preserved), ToolInputError (the
retryable '- problem at path' format), result mapping (string verbatim /
object JSON / image parts, details rides the record's tool part output),
and questionResult() — placeholder + terminate:true (owner Option A:
belt of terminate + slim makeQuestionStopper with the clean-question
rule; maxTurns deleted from the teaching turn entirely per owner).
- All 11 tool files + tools.ts registries converted to TypeBox parameters
(typebox@1.3.7, pinned to pi-agent-core's copy). zod refinements
(quizInputProblems, askOptionProblems, live-nodeId) moved from schemas
into execute — the model sees the same retryable error shape.
- question-core + contracts/probe TypeBox-authored (single source shared
with the UI); tool-parts parse seam runs the boundary's full chain
(Convert → Check → Clean → refinement), fixing the live-smoke lockout:
pi's boundary Value.Converts correctAnswer: 17 → '17' but the record
keeps raw args, so a parse without Convert rejected a posed quiz
(invisible pending question, turn ended). Pinned with the real smoke
emission shape.
- Subagents converted: demo-builder/researcher AgentTool-native,
visual-maker/pdf-reader declaration-only pi-ai Tools with local execute
fns, extraction submit schemas re-authored in TypeBox (owner option 2:
zod defaults → Type.Optional + fill at the submit seam).
- Accepted delta, flagged: TypeBox-native schemas skip pi's JSON-Schema
primitive coercion fast path... (boundary still Value.Converts), and
prober-quiz unknown keys ride through (Value.Clean strips at display).
- Tests: 988 passing (was 967 at the recon baseline); tool-abort and
read-tool rewritten against the native seams; question-core/question-
tools/tool-parts/demos/web-search/graph-tools/plan-tree/probe-done/
tool-toggles converted to Value.Check/execute pins.
Live smoke (PORT=3004, real model): native ls turn streams end-to-end; a
real quiz pose (first attempt missing correctAnswer → tool-input-error →
model retry → posed) terminates the turn cleanly and persists pending.
The prober was planning perfect 7-question batches instead of probing. Three
surfaces now say the same thing — one question, adapt, next question:
- prober/10 rewritten to ~2.6k (from 5.6k): serial discipline leads (ask,
wait, choose the next question from the answer); 'How your questions
arrive' deleted (owner: does nothing); 'You cannot get there by thinking'
deleted (owner: didn't reduce thinking); 'never plan a batch' and the
first-message-length line dropped per owner — no overcorrection, no
strong-instruction inflation. Binary search compressed to four moves.
- tool descriptions: the async-era fossil 'Ask exactly one question per
tool call; after calling, end your turn and wait' — which permitted
multi-call batches — swapped for 'ONE question per turn: ... his answer
determines the next' in all four places (prober quiz + ask descriptions,
teacher quiz description, both zod question-field describes).
- shared/40-formatting: markdown/LaTeX coverage now explicitly names quiz
questions, options, and explanations ('in prose and in quiz questions
alike') — the prober wasn't using LaTeX in questions.
Prober composed prompt ~13.2k -> ~10.0k chars. Pins preserved verbatim
('measurement should be efficient', 'the read tool can inspect it directly').
Gates: typecheck 0, 986/986, lint clean, build green.
Two live bugs from the modal-realism stress runs:
1. Multi-select ask: picking the custom 'Other…' row cleared every
already-picked option, and picking any option cleared a typed custom
answer — single-select displacement logic applied to both modes. The
dock's selection is now a pure state machine in question-core
(toggleOption/toggleOther over DockSelection, unit-tested): single
displaces (unchanged), multi coexists — neither channel clears the
other; the typed text always survives.
2. ProbeDoneCard crashed on a REJECTED probe_done call: the model
stringified 'assessment' (the same double-encoding habit as the
options bug), zod rejected the call, the model retried — but the
card's input-preview fallback trusted the errored part's unvalidated
input shape and died on assessment.strands.map. The preview now reads
input only while the call is pending or streaming (guarded with
Array.isArray); an output-error part renders a quiet
malformed-and-retried note instead of the garbage.
Pinned: question-core.test.ts (3 dock-selection machine cases),
render-cards.test.tsx (4 probe-done card cases incl. the exact live
stringified shape, plus the multi-select ask markup pin).
Gates: tsc, lint, build, 315/315.
Diagnosis (2026-09-11 user testing, minimal-effort GLM): sessions stuck on
'plan' forever. Two causes: (1) the three-phase view read the stored tree's
currentNodeId, which nothing ever writes post author-once (2026-09-03) — a
structural dead seam; (2) the teacher stochastically left quiz.nodeId
untagged, and done-by-quiz-result semantics would have falsely completed
nodes anyway.
The redesign (docs/probe-teach-split.md) abolishes derived occupancy in
favor of explicit events:
- Two agents over one transcript: createProberAgent (quiz without a
nodeId field, ask, probe_done) and createTeacherAgent (full toolset,
plan_init onward). The chat-handler construction branch keys on a
probe_done part in the transcript. MODELS.prober added.
- probe_done: server-side seam tool — carries the learner assessment
(strands + free-form edge read), refuses while a question is open or
the probe is already concluded, and queues a handoff steer through the
generalized wake pipeline (steers now dedupe by id, not jobId; job
finalization only for job steers). The teacher auto-wakes and authors
the plan; the learner sees the assessment via the probe-done card.
- phases: probe ends at a concluded probe_done, plan ends at a
successful plan_init — strictly sequential, no skipping, no legacy
compatibility (data wiped at the pivot per doctrine).
- Plan map = position, not completion: derivePlanStatuses reads only
tagged quiz CALLS (state/outcome feed nothing); current = latest
tagged node with consecutive duplicates collapsed, visited = earlier
distinct stays (a revisit stays in both — current wins at render).
PlanTree is structure-only; currentNodeId/doneNodeIds and the dead
mutation helpers are gone. No fallback current.
- Prompts split per agent (prompts/prober/, prompts/teacher/ over the
trimmed shared base); graph-context injection removed entirely
(shelved, docs/probe-teach-split.md §5); knowledge-graph context no
longer reaches either agent.
- Plan blocks are full-only snapshots at plan_init (neighborhood
machinery retired; the persistent DAG window is the future UI wave);
usage capture unchanged.
Gates: tsc clean, 294/294 tests (phases/plan-tree/plan-blocks/question-
tools rewritten to the new semantics; probe-done + handoff-wake tests
added), lint, build. Live GLM smoke PASS: prober concluded with an honest
assessment, teacher auto-woke, authored a 10-node plan with the block
attached, then tagged checks on slope-instinct → secant derived current/
visited exactly as designed; grading honest both ways (driver off-by-one
proved a wrong answer grades false).
- plan_init is now the ONLY plan tool: a mermaid 'graph TD' block parsed by a
constrained-subset parser (mermaid-plan.ts) with line-precise errors; the
seven mutation/tracking tools are gone by design (2026-09-03 design pass).
- Re-call plan_init = sanctioned wholesale rewrite; slugs are permanent.
- derivePlanStatuses (contracts/plan.ts): done = passed check tagged with a
quiz nodeId; current = open check's node else first topo-ready node — the
tracking the teacher no longer declares by hand.
- questionToolsFor(ctx) (tools.ts): the quiz schema chains a dynamic plan-
nodeId validation against the LIVE record — an invalid nodeId is rejected
at the call boundary and the teacher retries mid-turn, before any UI.
Static questionTools stay validator-less for the default path.
- Prompts rewritten for mermaid authoring + derived position.
- Out-of-lane surgical touches (flagged for master review):
src/core/question-core.ts (quizInputObject export + nodeId description),
src/core/contracts/plan.ts (derivePlanStatuses + doc).
Compared the port against the original pi setup
(vault/π/learn/.pi: quiz.ts, ask-user-question.ts, teach SKILL.md) —
the pi version never produced invalid correctAnswer values. Root cause
of the port's validation failures: the pi options schema's 'Give each
option a stable value; you reference the correct one by that value in
correctAnswer' sentence was dropped in the port. Without it the model
omits values and must copy a long natural-language label verbatim into
correctAnswer — and instead slugifies it ('cultural-diagnosis' for
'A cultural diagnosis') every turn.
Now matched to pi:
- quiz schema: pi's field order (question, details, options,
multiSelect, correctAnswer, explanation) and descriptions — options
carry the stable-value instruction, correctAnswer is phrased as a
value reference ('the value field of the option you intend'), not a
copy-exact-or-fail threat. nodeId (lh-only, graph) stays.
- ask schema: dropped the redundant 'mode' param (pi has none; the dock
already infers from options presence), pi's descriptions.
- quiz tool description: pi's full text (ask contrast, note field,
dontKnow semantics) minus terminal-only details, plus lh's turn
protocol sentence.
- system-prompt: fixed the stale 'exactly two tools' line (plan/research/
demo/visual tools have their own sections).
Not matched, deliberately: tool results stay JSON (pi sends curated
text; formatAnswerMessage exists if we want it later), shuffle param
(lh always shuffles seeded), pi's ask '(Recommended)' label hint.
quizInputSchema now enforces (via pure quizInputProblems + superRefine) that
correctAnswer resolves against option values, options are non-empty and
unique, and multi-answer requires multiSelect — schema-valid now implies
gradeable. The AI SDK already returns invalid tool input to the model as a
tool-error part (verified in ai@7 run loop), so the teacher retries in the
same turn. chat-handler onError passes tool-input validation messages
through to the client (masked 'An error occurred.' for everything else).
Covers the Gate 3 GLM failure: correctAnswer slug matching no option.
The shell now imports through exactly two barrels, enforced by
import/no-restricted-paths (npm run lint):
components/** -> "@/src/core" (pure core API, browser-safe)
app/** -> "@/src/core" + "@/src/server" (server entries)
Zone violations are lint errors with architecture-pointer messages; the
pure-core modules (contracts, question-core, plan-tree, phases, pending,
math-delims, ui-message) may never import agent/server/store.
Supporting moves (direction: IO layers -> core):
- core/index.ts: the core public API barrel
- core/ui-message.ts: moved from src/agent (it was shell-facing all along)
- quiz/ask input zod schemas moved agent/tools -> core/question-core
(the question contract, alongside the grading logic)
- ChatRecord/ChatSummary moved store/chats -> core/contracts (single schema)
- GraphSnapshot/NodeStateClass moved core/graph -> core/contracts (the
/api/graph payload IS a contract; the pure renderer needs only these)
- src/server/{chats,graph,jobs}.ts + index.ts: thin server entries for the
transport layer; GET /api/graph's fold side-effect now lives behind
graphView() instead of inline in the route
Gates: tsc clean, 190/190 tests, eslint clean (law verified to fire on
store/agent/subpath violations), production build clean.
(Repo repair en route: a git object (app/chat/[id] tree) was missing from
the object store — reconstructed byte-exactly via mktree from its blob;
the broken node_modules that stalled the build was cleanly reinstalled.)
Layout:
- Home = knowledge-graph placeholder (main view) with new-session input
docked below; session list moved out of home into a hamburger drawer
- SessionDrawer: slide-over session navigation (backdrop/ESC close, active
highlight, fetches /api/chats on open) on both home and chat headers
- Chat header loses the back button — the drawer is the navigation
Math (inline $ was silently not rendering):
- @streamdown/math defaults singleDollarTextMath:false — now
createMathPlugin({ singleDollarTextMath: true }) in message + reasoning
- katex.min.css imported in layout (streamdown does not inject plugin
styles; display math only looked right via browser MathML fallback)
- QuizCard/AnsweredCard route question/options/explanation through
MessageResponse; user chat bubbles render markdown+math too
- Currency hazard: micromark-extension-math@3.1 lacks pandoc's
closing-digit rule, so bare '$5 and $10' parses as math — defense is at
the source: system prompt now instructs escaped \$5 / 'USD' for money
Hydration fix (React #418):
- QuizCard shuffled options with Math.random() — server/client orders
diverged. shuffleOptions now takes an injectable RNG; QuizCard passes
seededRandom(toolCallId) (mulberry32/FNV-1a in question-core). Same
question → same stable order across reloads; still varies per question.
Tests: 53 pass (5 new math-rendering pins incl. fenced-vs-one-line $$
behavior and the escaped-currency contract). tsc + next build clean.
Verified live in browser: inline/display math in text + cards, drawer
open/navigate/active-highlight/ESC, no console errors, no font 404s.
The teaching agent no longer runs on pi. Stack:
- ToolLoopAgent (ai@7) + OpenRouter (OPENROUTER_API_KEY), model via LH_MODEL,
default anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5 with reasoning tokens
- quiz/ask_user_question = client-side tools (no server execute): the call
lands as a typed tool part in input-available state; the card grades via
src/core/question-core.ts; addToolOutput sends the verdict; the teacher's
reaction continues the same assistant message
- resume-mid-quiz is free: the pending tool part persists in the transcript
- persistence: one JSON per chat (data/chats/), full UIMessage transcripts,
saved onFinish (also on abort)
- UI: AI Elements (owned copy-paste components, pruned to the five in use)
+ button-based QuizCard/AnsweredCard (ask answers never graded)
- pi fully removed: TUI, extensions, Fastify+WS server, bridge, custom
protocol all deleted (recoverable from git history)
- tests: question-core units carry over; chat-flow integration drives
handleChatRequest with MockLanguageModelV4 (48 tests, zero tokens);
render smoke tests guard the cards (renderToStaticMarkup)
Carried over unchanged: teacher system prompt, question-core, schema/
ledger/derive/extract pipeline, data model.
amosblomqvist