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indifferentketchup 0fa46cd06c v1.13.12: skills audit + token-tracking fix + codecontext + cap50 + UI cleanups

Multi-topic batch. The big-ticket item is the skills audit; the rest are
smaller patches that compounded during the audit work.

## Skills audit (rules→recipes split)

Vendored all 26 skills from /home/samkintop/opt/skills/ into data/skills/
(the boocode-repo-local skill library — see docker-compose change below).
Audited via 5 parallel Claude Code agent-teams running the
mgechev/skills-best-practices 4-step protocol (Discovery → Logic → Edge
Case → self-Architecture-Refinement) per skill, ~2 min wall-clock vs the
~3.7-hour serial estimate.

Result: 14 skills surviving (renamed to gerund form, frontmatter matched),
11 deleted (duplicates, BooCode-irrelevant patterns, Claude-already-does-
natively), 1 migrated to BOOCHAT.md/BOOCODER.md as an always-true rule
(verification-before-completion). Each surviving skill had its description
refined to fix specific trigger gaps surfaced by the protocol — 4
real-bug findings landed (dead refs, stale tags, broken sub-file
references in the original vendored content).

Audit decisions documented in openspec/changes/v1.13.12-skills-audit/
audit-notes.md. Convention codified in BOOCHAT.md/BOOCODER.md "rules vs
recipes" sections — future workflow rules go to those files (100%
present), recipes stay in data/skills/ (~6% invoke rate in multi-turn
per the Codeminer42 measurement).

## Token tracking + stale-stream banner fix (same root cause)

ws-frames.ts IsoTimestamp was z.string().min(1) but postgres returns
timestamp columns as JS Date objects. Every message_complete /
session_updated / chat_updated frame was failing the v1.13.11 Zod gate
and being silently dropped. Symptoms: token tracking blank in the UI
(no usage frames landed); the 60s no-token-activity timer tripped the
stale-stream banner because the frontend's local message state never
saw status='streaming' flip to 'complete'.

Fix: z.preprocess(v => v instanceof Date ? v.toISOString() : v,
z.string().min(1)) applied to the IsoTimestamp primitive. Centralized,
no publisher changes, works identically server + web (the parity test
still passes).

## Codecontext .codecontextignore auto-install

services/codecontext_client.ts now copies the
codecontext/.codecontextignore.template into any project's root on the
first call to that project if no .codecontextignore exists. One file
written per project, idempotent (in-memory Set guard + access-check),
silent fallback on read-only project. Stops the upstream empty-source-
file parser crash on foreign projects' node_modules — previously
required manually copying the template per project.

## Tool-call budget cap 30 → 50

services/inference/budget.ts: BUDGET_READ_ONLY and BUDGET_NO_AGENT
bumped to 50 (from 30). BUDGET_NON_READ_ONLY stays at 10 (no write
tools landed yet). Real recon sessions were hitting 30 with ~3 turns
wasted on codecontext parse failures; legitimate need was ~27, and
Architect-class system overviews want deeper recon. Headroom of 20
absorbs failure-retry turns without changing the safety floor — the
doom-loop guard (3 identical calls → abort) catches the actual
failure mode this cap was guarding against.

v1.14 (Phase C outer agent loop) will supersede this via per-agent
agent.steps. Throwaway-ish patch but unblocks deeper recon today.

## UI cleanups

- ChatPane queued-message dropdown removed. Each queued message now
  has three buttons: edit (pop back into ChatInput via sendToChat
  event), force-send (was the dropdown's only useful action), and
  cancel. Default behavior (send when streaming completes) needs no
  UI — it's the implicit do-nothing path.
- ChatThroughput removed from desktop tab strip (ChatTabBar.tsx).
  Mobile tab switcher still shows it.

## Plumbing

- .gitignore: data/* + !data/AGENTS.md + !data/skills/ negation
  patterns so the vendored skill library + agent registry become
  git-tracked while session DB state stays out.
- docker-compose.yml: removed /opt/skills:/data/skills override
  mount. Skills now live in the boocode repo at data/skills/,
  auditable per-batch. The host-level /opt/skills/ is preserved
  untouched for any other tools that read from it.
- .codecontextignore at repo root: auto-installed when codecontext
  was first called against /opt/boocode itself; matches the template.
- CLAUDE.md: updated to document the v1.13.11 publishFrame wrapper +
  message_parts table + tool_cost_stats view + DB-integration test
  pattern + host-side smoke endpoint quirk. (Pre-existing in working
  tree before this batch; shipped here for completeness.)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

2026-05-22 18:58:30 +00:00

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Creation Log: Systematic Debugging Skill

Reference example of extracting, structuring, and bulletproofing a critical skill.

Source Material

Extracted debugging framework from ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md:

4-phase systematic process (Investigation → Pattern Analysis → Hypothesis → Implementation)
Core mandate: ALWAYS find root cause, NEVER fix symptoms
Rules designed to resist time pressure and rationalization

Extraction Decisions

What to include:

Complete 4-phase framework with all rules
Anti-shortcuts ("NEVER fix symptom", "STOP and re-analyze")
Pressure-resistant language ("even if faster", "even if I seem in a hurry")
Concrete steps for each phase

What to leave out:

Project-specific context
Repetitive variations of same rule
Narrative explanations (condensed to principles)

Structure Following skill-creation/SKILL.md

Rich when_to_use - Included symptoms and anti-patterns
Type: technique - Concrete process with steps
Keywords - "root cause", "symptom", "workaround", "debugging", "investigation"
Flowchart - Decision point for "fix failed" → re-analyze vs add more fixes
Phase-by-phase breakdown - Scannable checklist format
Anti-patterns section - What NOT to do (critical for this skill)

Bulletproofing Elements

Framework designed to resist rationalization under pressure:

Language Choices

"ALWAYS" / "NEVER" (not "should" / "try to")
"even if faster" / "even if I seem in a hurry"
"STOP and re-analyze" (explicit pause)
"Don't skip past" (catches the actual behavior)

Structural Defenses

Phase 1 required - Can't skip to implementation
Single hypothesis rule - Forces thinking, prevents shotgun fixes
Explicit failure mode - "IF your first fix doesn't work" with mandatory action
Anti-patterns section - Shows exactly what shortcuts look like

Redundancy

Root cause mandate in overview + when_to_use + Phase 1 + implementation rules
"NEVER fix symptom" appears 4 times in different contexts
Each phase has explicit "don't skip" guidance

Testing Approach

Created 4 validation tests following skills/meta/testing-skills-with-subagents:

Test 1: Academic Context (No Pressure)

Simple bug, no time pressure
Result: Perfect compliance, complete investigation

Test 2: Time Pressure + Obvious Quick Fix

User "in a hurry", symptom fix looks easy
Result: Resisted shortcut, followed full process, found real root cause

Test 3: Complex System + Uncertainty

Multi-layer failure, unclear if can find root cause
Result: Systematic investigation, traced through all layers, found source

Test 4: Failed First Fix

Hypothesis doesn't work, temptation to add more fixes
Result: Stopped, re-analyzed, formed new hypothesis (no shotgun)

All tests passed. No rationalizations found.

Iterations

Initial Version

Complete 4-phase framework
Anti-patterns section
Flowchart for "fix failed" decision

Enhancement 1: TDD Reference

Added link to skills/testing/test-driven-development
Note explaining TDD's "simplest code" ≠ debugging's "root cause"
Prevents confusion between methodologies

Final Outcome

Bulletproof skill that:

✅ Clearly mandates root cause investigation
✅ Resists time pressure rationalization
✅ Provides concrete steps for each phase
✅ Shows anti-patterns explicitly
✅ Tested under multiple pressure scenarios
✅ Clarifies relationship to TDD
✅ Ready for use

Key Insight

Most important bulletproofing: Anti-patterns section showing exact shortcuts that feel justified in the moment. When Claude thinks "I'll just add this one quick fix", seeing that exact pattern listed as wrong creates cognitive friction.

Usage Example

When encountering a bug:

Load skill: skills/debugging/systematic-debugging
Read overview (10 sec) - reminded of mandate
Follow Phase 1 checklist - forced investigation
If tempted to skip - see anti-pattern, stop
Complete all phases - root cause found

Time investment: 5-10 minutes Time saved: Hours of symptom-whack-a-mole

Created: 2025-10-03 Purpose: Reference example for skill extraction and bulletproofing

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