v1.12 track A: container guidance + skills

apps/server/src/schema.sql

@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ INSERT INTO settings (key, value) VALUES ('theme_mode', '"dark"') ON CONFLICT (k
 
 -- v1.9: per-project defaults that new sessions inherit, plus a per-session
 -- web-search override. Empty string on either prompt column means "inherit"
--- (resolved in inference.ts buildSystemPrompt). web_search_enabled is the
+-- (resolved in services/system-prompt.ts buildSystemPrompt). web_search_enabled is the
 -- only tri-state field: null on session = inherit from project default.
 ALTER TABLE projects ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS default_system_prompt TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '';
 ALTER TABLE projects ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS default_web_search_enabled BOOLEAN NOT NULL DEFAULT false;

apps/server/src/services/__tests__/inference.test.ts

@@ -73,26 +73,26 @@ function makeMessage(
 
 // ---- tests ------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-describe('buildMessagesPayload', () => {
-  it('prepends a system prompt containing the project path', () => {
+describe('buildMessagesPayload', async () => {
+  it('prepends a system prompt containing the project path', async () => {
     const session = makeSession();
     const project = makeProject({ path: '/tmp/my-proj' });
-    const result = buildMessagesPayload(session, project, []);
+    const result = await buildMessagesPayload(session, project, []);
     expect(result).toHaveLength(1);
     expect(result[0]!.role).toBe('system');
     expect(result[0]!.content).toContain('/tmp/my-proj');
   });
 
-  it('appends session.system_prompt to the system message when set', () => {
+  it('appends session.system_prompt to the system message when set', async () => {
     const session = makeSession({ system_prompt: 'Be terse.' });
     const project = makeProject();
-    const result = buildMessagesPayload(session, project, []);
+    const result = await buildMessagesPayload(session, project, []);
     expect(result).toHaveLength(1);
     expect(result[0]!.role).toBe('system');
     expect(result[0]!.content).toContain('Be terse.');
   });
 
-  it('returns user/assistant messages in order when no compact marker is present', () => {
+  it('returns user/assistant messages in order when no compact marker is present', async () => {
     const session = makeSession();
     const project = makeProject();
     const history: Message[] = [
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ describe('buildMessagesPayload', () => {
       makeMessage('user', 'how are you'),
       makeMessage('assistant', 'great'),
     ];
-    const result = buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history);
+    const result = await buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history);
     // 1 system + 4 history messages
     expect(result).toHaveLength(5);
     expect(result[0]!.role).toBe('system');
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ describe('buildMessagesPayload', () => {
     expect(result[4]).toMatchObject({ role: 'assistant', content: 'great' });
   });
 
-  it('starts from the latest compact marker, emitting it as a system message', () => {
+  it('starts from the latest compact marker, emitting it as a system message', async () => {
     const session = makeSession();
     const project = makeProject();
     const history: Message[] = [
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ describe('buildMessagesPayload', () => {
       makeMessage('user', 'new1'),
       makeMessage('assistant', 'newreply1'),
     ];
-    const result = buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history);
+    const result = await buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history);
     // Expect: leading base-system prompt, then the compact as system, then
     // the user/assistant pair following it.
     expect(result).toHaveLength(4);
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ describe('buildMessagesPayload', () => {
     expect(result[3]).toMatchObject({ role: 'assistant', content: 'newreply1' });
   });
 
-  it('uses only the most recent compact when multiple are present', () => {
+  it('uses only the most recent compact when multiple are present', async () => {
     const session = makeSession();
     const project = makeProject();
     const history: Message[] = [
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ describe('buildMessagesPayload', () => {
       makeMessage('user', 'u3'),
       makeMessage('assistant', 'final reply'),
     ];
-    const result = buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history);
+    const result = await buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history);
     // Expect: base system + latest compact as system + the two messages
     // following it. The earlier compact and pre-compact history are dropped.
     expect(result).toHaveLength(4);
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ describe('buildMessagesPayload', () => {
     expect(concatenated).not.toContain('u2');
   });
 
-  it('skips streaming and cancelled assistant rows', () => {
+  it('skips streaming and cancelled assistant rows', async () => {
     const session = makeSession();
     const project = makeProject();
     const history: Message[] = [
@@ -173,14 +173,14 @@ describe('buildMessagesPayload', () => {
       makeMessage('assistant', 'cancelled fragment', { status: 'cancelled' }),
       makeMessage('assistant', 'final answer'),
     ];
-    const result = buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history);
+    const result = await buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history);
     // 1 system + 1 user + 1 assistant (only the complete one)
     expect(result).toHaveLength(3);
     expect(result[1]).toMatchObject({ role: 'user', content: 'hi' });
     expect(result[2]).toMatchObject({ role: 'assistant', content: 'final answer' });
   });
 
-  it('round-trips an assistant-with-tool_calls followed by its tool result', () => {
+  it('round-trips an assistant-with-tool_calls followed by its tool result', async () => {
     const session = makeSession();
     const project = makeProject();
     const toolCall: ToolCall = {
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ describe('buildMessagesPayload', () => {
       makeMessage('tool', '', { tool_results: toolResult }),
       makeMessage('assistant', 'here it is'),
     ];
-    const result = buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history);
+    const result = await buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history);
     // 1 system + 1 user + 1 assistant(tool_calls) + 1 tool + 1 assistant
     expect(result).toHaveLength(5);
     expect(result[1]).toMatchObject({ role: 'user', content: 'show me the file' });
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ describe('buildMessagesPayload', () => {
     expect(result[4]).toMatchObject({ role: 'assistant', content: 'here it is' });
   });
 
-  it('skips tool rows with no tool_results', () => {
+  it('skips tool rows with no tool_results', async () => {
     const session = makeSession();
     const project = makeProject();
     const history: Message[] = [
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ describe('buildMessagesPayload', () => {
       makeMessage('tool', '', { tool_results: null }),
       makeMessage('assistant', 'done'),
     ];
-    const result = buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history);
+    const result = await buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history);
     // 1 system + 1 user + 1 assistant; the empty tool row is dropped.
     expect(result).toHaveLength(3);
     expect(result.find((m) => m.role === 'tool')).toBeUndefined();

apps/server/src/services/__tests__/system-prompt.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,178 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { mkdtemp, writeFile, rm, utimes } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import {
+  loadContainerGuidance,
+  getContainerGuidance,
+  buildSystemPrompt,
+  _resetContainerGuidanceCacheForTests,
+} from '../system-prompt.js';
+import type { Agent, Project, Session } from '../../types/api.js';
+
+// ---- fixtures ---------------------------------------------------------------
+
+let tmpDir: string;
+
+beforeEach(async () => {
+  tmpDir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'system-prompt-test-'));
+  _resetContainerGuidanceCacheForTests();
+  delete process.env['CONTAINER_GUIDANCE_FILE'];
+});
+
+afterEach(async () => {
+  delete process.env['CONTAINER_GUIDANCE_FILE'];
+  _resetContainerGuidanceCacheForTests();
+  await rm(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+});
+
+function makeSession(overrides: Partial<Session> = {}): Session {
+  return {
+    id: 'sess',
+    project_id: 'proj',
+    name: 'test session',
+    model: 'test-model',
+    system_prompt: '',
+    status: 'open',
+    created_at: new Date(0).toISOString(),
+    updated_at: new Date(0).toISOString(),
+    agent_id: null,
+    web_search_enabled: null,
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+function makeProject(overrides: Partial<Project> = {}): Project {
+  return {
+    id: 'proj',
+    name: 'test project',
+    path: '/tmp/proj',
+    added_at: new Date(0).toISOString(),
+    last_session_id: null,
+    status: 'open',
+    gitea_remote: null,
+    default_system_prompt: '',
+    default_web_search_enabled: false,
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+function makeAgent(overrides: Partial<Agent> = {}): Agent {
+  return {
+    id: 'agent-foo',
+    name: 'foo',
+    description: 'test agent',
+    system_prompt: 'Speak in haiku.',
+    temperature: 0.3,
+    tools: ['view_file'],
+    model: null,
+    source: 'global',
+    max_tool_calls: null,
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+// ---- tests ------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+describe('loadContainerGuidance', () => {
+  it('returns file content when CONTAINER_GUIDANCE_FILE points to an existing file', async () => {
+    const path = join(tmpDir, 'BOOCHAT.md');
+    await writeFile(path, 'hello from BOOCHAT', 'utf8');
+    process.env['CONTAINER_GUIDANCE_FILE'] = path;
+    const result = await loadContainerGuidance();
+    expect(result).toBe('hello from BOOCHAT');
+  });
+
+  it('returns null when the env var points to a non-existent file', async () => {
+    process.env['CONTAINER_GUIDANCE_FILE'] = join(tmpDir, 'does-not-exist.md');
+    const result = await loadContainerGuidance();
+    expect(result).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('returns null when the env var is unset and /app/BOOCHAT.md does not exist', async () => {
+    // env var deleted in beforeEach; /app/BOOCHAT.md doesn't exist on the
+    // host (the prod path only resolves inside the container).
+    const result = await loadContainerGuidance();
+    expect(result).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
+
+describe('getContainerGuidance (mtime-watch cache)', () => {
+  it('caches the content across calls when the file mtime is unchanged', async () => {
+    const path = join(tmpDir, 'BOOCHAT.md');
+    await writeFile(path, 'first content', 'utf8');
+    // Pin mtime to a known Date BEFORE the first call so we can restore it
+    // exactly after the rewrite. Capturing s.mtime then writing+restoring is
+    // unreliable because Date round-trips truncate sub-millisecond precision
+    // that the filesystem reports back via stat.mtimeMs.
+    const fixedTime = new Date(2020, 0, 1, 12, 0, 0);
+    await utimes(path, fixedTime, fixedTime);
+    process.env['CONTAINER_GUIDANCE_FILE'] = path;
+
+    const first = await getContainerGuidance();
+    expect(first).toBe('first content');
+
+    // Rewrite the file with different content, then restore mtime to the
+    // same fixedTime. The cache must NOT re-read because the stat is
+    // unchanged from its point of view.
+    await writeFile(path, 'NEW content the cache must NOT see', 'utf8');
+    await utimes(path, fixedTime, fixedTime);
+
+    const second = await getContainerGuidance();
+    expect(second).toBe('first content');
+  });
+
+  it('re-reads the file when the mtime changes', async () => {
+    const path = join(tmpDir, 'BOOCHAT.md');
+    await writeFile(path, 'first content', 'utf8');
+    process.env['CONTAINER_GUIDANCE_FILE'] = path;
+    const first = await getContainerGuidance();
+    expect(first).toBe('first content');
+
+    // Bump mtime explicitly so the test doesn't race the filesystem's mtime
+    // resolution. Future time → guaranteed different from the cached value.
+    await writeFile(path, 'edited content', 'utf8');
+    const later = new Date(Date.now() + 60_000);
+    await utimes(path, later, later);
+
+    const second = await getContainerGuidance();
+    expect(second).toBe('edited content');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('buildSystemPrompt', () => {
+  it('includes the guidance block between the base prompt and the agent overlay when guidance is non-null', async () => {
+    const path = join(tmpDir, 'BOOCHAT.md');
+    await writeFile(path, 'CONTAINER RULES GO HERE', 'utf8');
+    process.env['CONTAINER_GUIDANCE_FILE'] = path;
+
+    const session = makeSession();
+    const project = makeProject({ path: '/tmp/test-proj' });
+    const agent = makeAgent({ system_prompt: 'Speak in haiku.' });
+
+    const prompt = await buildSystemPrompt(project, session, agent);
+
+    const baseIdx = prompt.indexOf('/tmp/test-proj');
+    const guidanceIdx = prompt.indexOf('CONTAINER RULES GO HERE');
+    const agentIdx = prompt.indexOf('Speak in haiku.');
+    expect(baseIdx).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+    expect(guidanceIdx).toBeGreaterThan(baseIdx);
+    expect(agentIdx).toBeGreaterThan(guidanceIdx);
+    expect(prompt).toContain('--- Container guidance ---');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('--- end container guidance ---');
+  });
+
+  it('omits the guidance block entirely (no delimiters) when guidance is null', async () => {
+    // Env var points to a non-existent file → getContainerGuidance returns null.
+    process.env['CONTAINER_GUIDANCE_FILE'] = join(tmpDir, 'never-existed.md');
+
+    const session = makeSession();
+    const project = makeProject({ path: '/tmp/test-proj' });
+
+    const prompt = await buildSystemPrompt(project, session, null);
+
+    expect(prompt).toContain('/tmp/test-proj');
+    expect(prompt).not.toContain('--- Container guidance ---');
+    expect(prompt).not.toContain('--- end container guidance ---');
+  });
+});

apps/server/src/services/inference.ts

@@ -24,9 +24,10 @@ import { getAgentById } from './agents.js';
 import * as compaction from './compaction.js';
 import * as modelContext from './model-context.js';
 import type { Broker } from './broker.js';
-
-const BASE_SYSTEM_PROMPT = (projectPath: string) =>
-  `You are BooCode Chat, a code investigation assistant. The user is working on a project located at ${projectPath}. Use the file-read tools (view_file, list_dir, grep, find_files) to investigate code when needed. Be concise. Cite file paths and line numbers when discussing code. Do not hallucinate file contents — read the file first. Tool results may be truncated; if so, narrow your query rather than guessing.`;
+// v1.12: prompt assembly extracted to its own module. buildSystemPrompt is
+// async (awaits the container-guidance loader) — buildMessagesPayload below
+// is therefore async too, and its three call sites in this file await it.
+import { buildSystemPrompt } from './system-prompt.js';
 
 const DB_FLUSH_INTERVAL_MS = 500;
 
@@ -201,37 +202,18 @@ export interface InferenceContext {
   broker: Broker;
 }
 
-// Resolution order: base prompt < agent.system_prompt < user prompt, where
-// user prompt = session.system_prompt if non-empty, else project's
-// default_system_prompt if non-empty, else nothing. Empty/whitespace-only
-// counts as "no override" for both layers (v1.9 inherit semantics — keeps
-// the column non-nullable so the existing key/value store stays put).
-export function buildSystemPrompt(
-  project: Project,
-  session: Session,
-  agent: Agent | null
-): string {
-  let out = BASE_SYSTEM_PROMPT(project.path);
-  if (agent && agent.system_prompt.trim().length > 0) {
-    out += '\n\n' + agent.system_prompt.trim();
-  }
-  const sessionPrompt = session.system_prompt?.trim() ?? '';
-  const projectPrompt = project.default_system_prompt?.trim() ?? '';
-  const userPrompt = sessionPrompt || projectPrompt;
-  if (userPrompt.length > 0) {
-    out += '\n\n' + userPrompt;
-  }
-  return out;
-}
-
-export function buildMessagesPayload(
+// v1.12: buildSystemPrompt moved to services/system-prompt.ts. See that
+// module for the resolution order doc and the container-guidance layer.
+// buildMessagesPayload is async now because buildSystemPrompt awaits the
+// guidance cache lookup.
+export async function buildMessagesPayload(
   session: Session,
   project: Project,
   history: Message[],
   agent: Agent | null = null
-): OpenAiMessage[] {
+): Promise<OpenAiMessage[]> {
   const out: OpenAiMessage[] = [];
-  const systemPrompt = buildSystemPrompt(project, session, agent);
+  const systemPrompt = await buildSystemPrompt(project, session, agent);
   out.push({ role: 'system', content: systemPrompt });
 
   // Find the latest compact marker — only send messages from that point onwards
@@ -1104,7 +1086,7 @@ async function runAssistantTurn(
     return;
   }
 
-  const messages = buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history, agent);
+  const messages = await buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history, agent);
 
   // v1.11.8: resolve per-chat web-tools opt-in. Tri-state on the wire:
   //   - session.web_search_enabled = null → inherit project default
@@ -1172,7 +1154,7 @@ async function runCapHitSummary(
 ): Promise<void> {
   const { sessionId, chatId, assistantMessageId, signal } = args;
 
-  const messages = buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history, agent);
+  const messages = await buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history, agent);
   messages.push({ role: 'system', content: CAP_HIT_SUMMARY_NOTE(budget) });
 
   const startedRow = await ctx.sql<{ started_at: string }[]>`
@@ -1433,7 +1415,7 @@ async function runDoomLoopSummary(
 ): Promise<void> {
   const { sessionId, chatId, assistantMessageId, signal } = args;
 
-  const messages = buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history, agent);
+  const messages = await buildMessagesPayload(session, project, history, agent);
   messages.push({ role: 'system', content: DOOM_LOOP_NOTE(loop.name) });
 
   const startedRow = await ctx.sql<{ started_at: string }[]>`

apps/server/src/services/system-prompt.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+// v1.12: extracted from inference.ts to give the prompt-assembly logic its
+// own home + test surface. Adds the container-guidance layer (BOOCHAT.md
+// baked into the Docker image, injected between the base prompt and the
+// agent block).
+//
+// Resolution order, last-wins on conflicts:
+//   base prompt
+//   + container guidance (this layer, NEW in v1.12)
+//   + agent.system_prompt          (resolved from data/AGENTS.md by getAgentById)
+//   + session.system_prompt OR project.default_system_prompt
+
+import { readFile, stat } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import type { Agent, Project, Session } from '../types/api.js';
+
+const BASE_SYSTEM_PROMPT = (projectPath: string) =>
+  `You are BooCode Chat, a code investigation assistant. The user is working on a project located at ${projectPath}. Use the file-read tools (view_file, list_dir, grep, find_files) to investigate code when needed. Be concise. Cite file paths and line numbers when discussing code. Do not hallucinate file contents — read the file first. Tool results may be truncated; if so, narrow your query rather than guessing.`;
+
+// v1.12 mtime-watch cache. Mirrors the safeStat pattern in services/agents.ts.
+// On every call we stat the file; if the mtime matches the cached entry we
+// return the cached content without re-reading. If the file is missing we
+// cache { mtime: 0, content: null } so the not-found case still benefits
+// from caching (one stat per call, no readFile attempt on a known-missing
+// path). Because BOOCHAT.md is bind-mounted from the host, edits land
+// immediately on the next chat turn — no container restart needed.
+let cachedGuidance: { mtime: number; content: string | null } | null = null;
+
+function resolveGuidancePath(): string {
+  return process.env['CONTAINER_GUIDANCE_FILE'] ?? '/app/BOOCHAT.md';
+}
+
+export async function loadContainerGuidance(): Promise<string | null> {
+  const path = resolveGuidancePath();
+  try {
+    return await readFile(path, 'utf8');
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+export async function getContainerGuidance(): Promise<string | null> {
+  const path = resolveGuidancePath();
+  let mtimeMs: number;
+  try {
+    const s = await stat(path);
+    mtimeMs = s.mtimeMs;
+  } catch {
+    cachedGuidance = { mtime: 0, content: null };
+    return null;
+  }
+  if (cachedGuidance && cachedGuidance.mtime === mtimeMs) {
+    return cachedGuidance.content;
+  }
+  const content = await loadContainerGuidance();
+  cachedGuidance = { mtime: mtimeMs, content };
+  return content;
+}
+
+// Test-only: clear the cache so consecutive tests don't share state.
+export function _resetContainerGuidanceCacheForTests(): void {
+  cachedGuidance = null;
+}
+
+export async function buildSystemPrompt(
+  project: Project,
+  session: Session,
+  agent: Agent | null
+): Promise<string> {
+  let out = BASE_SYSTEM_PROMPT(project.path);
+  const guidance = await getContainerGuidance();
+  if (guidance) {
+    out += `\n\n--- Container guidance ---\n${guidance}\n--- end container guidance ---\n`;
+  }
+  if (agent && agent.system_prompt.trim().length > 0) {
+    out += '\n\n' + agent.system_prompt.trim();
+  }
+  const sessionPrompt = session.system_prompt?.trim() ?? '';
+  const projectPrompt = project.default_system_prompt?.trim() ?? '';
+  const userPrompt = sessionPrompt || projectPrompt;
+  if (userPrompt.length > 0) {
+    out += '\n\n' + userPrompt;
+  }
+  return out;
+}