Demos execute JS and need a browser; the app's own binary now provides
one: main.cjs boots a hidden window + CDP port under --browser-service
(before the single-instance lock - a helper is deliberately a second
instance of this binary), lifetime tied to the server's stdin (EOF =
quit, no orphans). headless.ts connects over CDP as PRIMARY (owner
ruling 2026-10-10), system Chrome stays the fallback, graceful refusal
when neither. Electron's CDP has no Target.createTarget, so the helper's
pre-created window is THE page, reused and reset per job behind a
serialized queue. PDFs and SVGs never reach a browser anymore (native
since stages 1-2); stale Chrome wording in model-facing tool copy made
engine-neutral. Live-proofed end-to-end from the dev tree (helper seen
by process watch, js-ran 42 probe, no orphan). Gates 1523/1523.
pi-ai 1.0's onProviderStreamEvent, at the layer our incident class lives
(GLM arg truncation, DeepSeek id resets) — env-gated (owner choice:
no app surface, off by default; raw events carry full prompts), one
JSONL per chat under data/debug/provider-events/ with a 20MB cap and a
run-start marker for record correlation.
Wired at every agent construction: teacher/prober turns (AgentBuildOptions.
chatId), jobs via LoopContext (researcher, demo-builder through
runSubagent; visual-maker + pdf-reader through their streamOnce), and
the extraction pipeline (extractor + auditor keyed by source id).
practice deliberately unwired (sunk-cost module).
- 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.
Owner decision 2026-09-22: 'it doesn't make sense to have any default
model configured anywhere; the application is bring your own keys.'
config.ts: MODELS deleted; ModelRole becomes an explicit 9-role union;
DEFAULT_THINKING_ORDER (medium, low, high, minimal, xhigh, max) bakes
the unset-level default — first entry the model supports; explicitly
set levels keep pi's native nearest-clamp.
core/settings-resolution: the factory layer dissolves — the chain is
role override → slot → NOTHING. resolveSettings(record) takes no
factory. Empty chains resolve to null/undefined; a thinkingLevel-only
slot is inert (stored, never run). resolveConversationSpec: chat.model
override over the strong slot, null when both empty. resolveRoleSpec
spans all nine roles for the job/extraction engines.
Refusal envelope (core/settings.ts): modelsNotConfigured(missing) —
{error, code: 'models_not_configured', missing: [slot tiers]} +
ModelsNotConfiguredError with .envelope. Per-need gates, each honest:
- chat-handler: universal turn gate (new + continuing turns) returns
503 before beginTurn — no liveness, no write-ahead persist, no graph
trigger before the gate fires.
- runner.runJob: unresolvable engine lands the job as error with the
envelope wording; no phantom loop, no result steer.
- extraction: refuseIfStagesUnconfigured throws before any stage
(turn-service info-skips so coverage retries next turn; the import
route surfaces per-file code+missing); labeler-less runs skip
cluster naming with a console line and still merge.
Write side: slot entries must carry a model — level-only slot writes
are 400s (absent slot key = clear). piEngineForSpec resolves unset
thinking levels via DEFAULT_THINKING_ORDER; piEngineFor now throws
honestly; thinkingLevelFor/modelIdFor deleted; teacher-agent, pi-run,
visual-maker, pdf-reader all read engine.level.
model-catalog: defaults/slots/rolePins null when the chain is empty
(contracts nullable) — no phantom ids in payloads. Stores drop
MODEL_PINS entirely.
Tests: pin-leaners converted to explicit injection (per-chat model
pins on scripted chats — exactly what the setup flow writes; faux
engines for agent-construction tests). New coverage: the 503 gate
envelope, the runner refusal, the extraction refusal + labeler skip.
Gates: typecheck, lint, 815/815, build.
The Vercel AI SDK survives only as Band D (useChat client + UIMessage
record types); @openrouter/ai-sdk-provider is uninstalled.
- src/agent/models.ts: PiEngine {model, streamFn} via createModels +
openrouterProvider subpath; thinkingLevelFor maps config effort none->off
- src/agent/lh-tool.ts: neutral LhTool (zod authoring, optional execute,
clientQuestion flag); toPiTool converts via z.toJSONSchema and re-runs
zod inside execute so refinements ride the error-result retry path
- src/server/pi/record-adapter.ts: UIMessage records -> pi Messages
(dangling tool calls get synthesized interrupted results)
- src/server/pi/ui-stream.ts: SSE bridge emitting AI-SDK-shaped chunks so
the useChat client parses unchanged (continuation id rule, question
tools never emit output, tool-input-error for bad authoring)
- teacher-agent.ts: stateless per-turn pi Agents; shouldStopAfterTurn
stops only when every question-tool call resolved cleanly (errors retry)
- chat-handler.ts: buildAgent(outgoing) factory seam (stateless doctrine);
assertValidUiMessages owns the retired SDK validation gate
- sub-agents via shared runSubagent (pi-run.ts); extraction stages stop
after a clean submit; visual-maker keeps its hand-rolled loop over
direct streamSimple calls; aborted model calls bill no usage
- tests: all model seams ported to pi-ai faux provider (scripted
FauxResponseSteps, agent factories); handleChatRequest second param
is now an agent factory
Gates: tsc, lint, build, 305/305. Live GLM smoke (disposable driver,
deleted): prober streaming + persistence, question seam, turn-2
continuation same message id, per-turn real token usage - ALL PASS.
Data wiped at the pivot (chats/graph/jobs, .gitkeeps kept).
Wave 4 (agent-side observability + control), reconciled with the dock
contract (master relay 2026-09):
- abortJob in src/server/jobs.ts, exported through the server barrel for
POST /api/activity/abort (master's thin route): fires the job's
AbortController (real kill — the in-flight model call aborts, not just
the next loop check), drops any queued result steer, flips the record
to error "Aborted by learner" + activity "aborted" synchronously, and
queues a one-line abort steer (buildAbortSteer) through the same wake
pipeline so the teacher's promise doesn't hang in the lesson. Shares
the result steer's deterministic id space, so abort + racing result
can never both deliver (steerDelivered dedupe).
- Abort registry (src/agent/subagents/aborts.ts) on globalThis, mirroring
the wake pipeline's module-state pattern; runner registers/unregisters
per run, so the route's module instance sees the loop's controller.
- Runner usage capture: LoopContext (abortSignal + onUsage) threads into
all three kind loops; per-step usage folds via accumulateJobUsage into
JobRecord.usage (model from config MODELS, absent-never-zero), flushed
in runJob's finally so an aborted job's money record survives the kill.
- Contracts: JobUsage token fields optional + lastStep (most recent
call's accounting, for the dock's per-blob context line vs
CONTEXT_LIMITS); SubagentResultMeta.aborted; AbortSteerMessage;
buildAbortSteer; SteerMessage union generalized.
- demo-builder/visual-maker accept abortSignal + onUsage (visual folds
generateText usage per iteration).
- stillRunning/finishJob/jobContext guards: an aborted job is never
overwritten by the runner (terminal no matter what the wake does);
failJob and the pump's finalizeJob keep the flip.
- UI: abort steer renders a quiet aborted chip (job-aborted-badge).
- Prompt 20-jobs.md: one line about aborted jobs.
Tests: accumulateJobUsage folds (undefined-preservation, lastStep),
runner usage capture, real-kill abort (sync flip, silent unwind,
abort steer wakes), usage-so-far survives the kill, aborting a
delivering job drops the queued result steer, outcome reasons,
abort-chip render. 330/330, typecheck/lint/build green.
The job tools (research/demo/visual) switch from client-side turn-breaking
calls to pi's model: execute resolves IMMEDIATELY with a fire-and-forget
ack, the teacher's turn continues, and the result arrives later as an
injected user-role steer message that wakes the teacher in a new
server-side turn.
- contracts.ts: THE ASYNC PROTOCOL rewritten (ack now, steer later); steer
types (SubagentSteerMessage, metadata.subagentResult + data-subagent-
artifact part), pure buildSubagentSteer/steerDelivered/isSubagentFailure
- tools/jobs.ts: jobTools(ctx) factory — server-side execute creates the
job (deduped by toolCallId), fires spawn with the dispatch-time input
(the part isn't persisted yet at execute — a transcript scan would race)
- runner.ts: runJob(jobId, input?) builds the steer and hands it to the
injected deliver seam; pipeline owns the done/error flip (a polling
client re-syncs once, at the end); failures still steer
- server/jobs.ts (new pipeline): per-chat serialized queues on globalThis,
idle gates (turn liveness + pending question, 1.5s grace), 409 retry
with backoff, idempotent per jobId, stale-job recovery sweep (re-deliver
or re-spawn); wake turns run through the same handleChatRequest
composition via setTurnRunner injection
- chat-handler.ts: wires runner+deliver+tools ctx; drops spawnTurnJobs
from onFinish; teacher default registry = question tools only
- plan.ts: PlanToolContext split out (plan tools need no job wiring)
- visual-maker: edit_svg added (pi parity — exact-match single
replacement, fuzzy context on a miss); researcher: pi's kept/dropped
source accounting restored
- prompts 20-jobs/40-demos: async discipline rewritten (announce and keep
teaching, no waiting/polling/fabricating, parallel dispatch, teach with
the artifact when it arrives)
- tests: jobs.test.ts rewritten (dispatch ack mid-turn, runner steers,
wake pipeline: deferral/409/idempotency/failure), demos.test.tsx runner
tests ported to runJob + fake deliver; 222 green
FLAGGED surgical touches outside the stream's owned files, for master
review at merge: src/core/contracts.ts (protocol doc + steer types),
src/core/ui-message.ts (job tool + data-part types), src/server/
chat-handler.ts (wiring), src/server/turn-service.ts (spawnTurnJobs
retirement), src/agent/teacher-agent.ts (default tools), src/agent/tools/
plan.ts (context type split).
Verified live on PORT=3003 with real models: teacher dispatched research
mid-turn, researcher ran real searches/fetches, steer injected on quiz
answer, wake turn wove the brief in citing its sources, job flipped done;
a client/wake race correctly 409'd.
MODELS in config.ts is now THE single tuning table: model id + OpenRouter
reasoning effort for teacher/researcher/demoBuilder/visualMaker/extractor/
auditor. .env.local is secrets-only (LH_* model vars removed; all sub-agents
previously had NO reasoning setting -> provider-default unbounded thinking,
the extraction token burn). One factory (src/agent/models.ts modelFor) wires
all six call sites; test injection unchanged. EXTRACTION.everyNQuizAnswers
moved to a config literal too. Plus the §5 one-line-per-seam logging in the
extraction pipeline: pipeline start, extractor/auditor start + per-step,
audit kept, merged — previously silent until completion, which made live
runs look like they never fired.
amosblomqvist