fix(skill): harden the fast path against the review findings

Fifteen review findings on the fast-path rewrite plus one caught live, all
verified against a real 1.18.1 server before landing:

- sendwait picks a fresh seq (the epoch second) instead of a fixed 2, so a
  second prompt to the same worker is typed instead of silently swallowed as
  an already-applied duplicate; explicit seq remains for deliberate resends
- sendwait self-heals stranded delivery: an Ink repaint occasionally eats the
  Enter (observed live), so a timed-out short first wait sends one bare \r and
  re-waits by resending the identical frame as a tagged duplicate
- spawn_worker verifies the resolved casePath carries Codeman hooks (the same
  /api/hook-event marker the server checks), refusing names that resolve to
  linked or pre-existing hook-less directories instead of running the job in
  what may be the user's real repo
- spawn_worker probes the trust dialog after a short 5s composer wait, not the
  full 45s, restoring the ladder staging verbs.md documents; on a readiness
  miss it deletes the half-spawned session and returns 1 with empty stdout,
  so a prompt can never be typed blind into a trust dialog
- spawn_workers refuses duplicate case names and empty argument lists, and
  keys result files by index
- section 1 is bash 3.2 compatible (indexed arrays, no declare -A), prints the
  full delivered/timedOut/signal tuple per worker with an explicit line for a
  missing result, deletes only workers whose turn really ended (a timeout
  means still working), cleans up spawned siblings when any spawn fails, and
  guards its mktemp
- last_text takes the previous answer as an optional second argument for
  consecutive-turn reads (the transcript briefly serves the prior answer
  after a stop, observed live)
- the stale duplicate bullets in section 1's closing list are gone
- reference/verbs.md joins the mode-list drift guard's file list
- README's skill inventory covers verbs.md and the new SKILL.md shape
- the changeset is minor so the shipped release matches the 1.19.0 stamp

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Codeman maintainer
2026-08-14 13:40:42 +02:00
parent f18097cb23
commit bbc960a8ff
5 changed files with 144 additions and 64 deletions
+119 -55
View File
@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@ you are not part of is not yours to drive.
⚠️ **Your shell state does not survive between tool calls.** Each Bash call starts a
fresh shell, so `$API`, `$SELF`, the `CURL` array and `delete_session` are all gone by
the next call, and `$$` is a different pid. **The filesystem does survive**, so write
the preamble to a file once and source it afterwards, rather than re-pasting ~30 lines
at the top of every call (a half-re-pasted preamble used to be the single most likely
way to break a run).
the preamble to a file once and source it afterwards, rather than re-pasting a
hundred-odd lines at the top of every call (a half-re-pasted preamble used to be the
single most likely way to break a run).
Run this block once per Codeman session:
@@ -97,57 +97,109 @@ _composer_up() { # <sid> <timeoutMs> -> "true"/"false". `shift+tab` is the one
--data-urlencode "timeout=$2" | jq -r '.data.wait.matched // false'
}
# spawn_worker <caseName> [mode] -> session id on stdout, diagnostics on stderr.
# quick-start AND readiness in one call. There is deliberately no pid poll: wait-output
# already blocks until the composer draws, and pid!=null proved startup, never readiness.
# quick-start AND readiness in one call, with a strict contract: NON-EMPTY stdout means
# a READY claude worker in a hook-carrying case. Anything less is rc 1 with EMPTY
# stdout, and the half-spawned session is deleted here rather than handed back, because
# a worker that never drew its composer would eat the task prompt with its trust
# dialog. There is deliberately no pid poll: wait-output already blocks until the
# composer draws, and pid!=null proved startup, never readiness.
spawn_worker() {
local name="${1:?spawn_worker needs a case name}" mode="${2:-claude}" q sid r
local name="${1:?spawn_worker needs a case name}" mode="${2:-claude}" q sid cp r
q=$("${CURL[@]}" -X POST "$API/api/v1/quick-start" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d "$(jq -nc --arg n "$name" --arg m "$mode" '{caseName:$n,mode:$m}')")
sid=$(jq -r 'if .success then .data.sessionId else empty end' <<<"$q")
# NOT retryable in a loop: every quick-start failure code is terminal (§5.1).
[ -n "$sid" ] || { jq -c '{error,errorCode}' <<<"$q" >&2; return 1; }
[ "$mode" = claude ] || { printf '%s\n' "$sid"; return 0; } # only claude draws a composer
r=$(_composer_up "$sid" 45000)
if [ "$r" != true ] && "${CURL[@]}" -G "$API/api/v1/sessions/$sid/wait-output" \
--data-urlencode 'match=trust' --data-urlencode 'from=buffer' --data-urlencode 'timeout=2000' \
| jq -e '.data.wait.matched' >/dev/null; then
# Codeman's own auto-accept gives up after 90 s / 3 tries; this is that bounded fallback.
"${CURL[@]}" -X POST "$API/api/v1/sessions/$sid/input" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d "$(jq -nc --arg c "$CID-$sid" '{input:"\r",useMux:true,clientId:$c,seq:1}')" >/dev/null
# quick-start RESOLVES the name before creating: a linked case or an existing dir
# wins over a fresh scratch case, so "created => hooks" is only true after this one
# local grep (the same marker the server itself checks for). No marker means sendwait
# would false-resolve on flapping idle, possibly inside the user's REAL repo: refuse
# rather than run the job there.
cp=$(jq -r '.data.casePath // empty' <<<"$q")
grep -qs '/api/hook-event' "$cp/.claude/settings.local.json" || {
echo "case '$name' resolved to '$cp', which has no Codeman hooks (linked or pre-existing?): pick an unused name, or work §5.1+§5.5 by hand" >&2
delete_session "$sid" >/dev/null; return 1; }
# Short composer wait FIRST, then the trust-dialog probe: a case still showing the
# dialog can never pass the composer wait, so probing early keeps a cold case from
# paying the whole long wait before the fallback even runs (§5.2). A warm case
# matches in under a second and never reaches the probe.
r=$(_composer_up "$sid" 5000)
if [ "$r" != true ]; then
if "${CURL[@]}" -G "$API/api/v1/sessions/$sid/wait-output" \
--data-urlencode 'match=trust' --data-urlencode 'from=buffer' --data-urlencode 'timeout=2000' \
| jq -e '.data.wait.matched' >/dev/null; then
# Codeman's own auto-accept gives up after 90 s / 3 tries; this is that bounded fallback.
"${CURL[@]}" -X POST "$API/api/v1/sessions/$sid/input" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d "$(jq -nc --arg c "$CID-$sid" '{input:"\r",useMux:true,clientId:$c,seq:1}')" >/dev/null
fi
r=$(_composer_up "$sid" 45000)
fi
[ "$r" = true ] || echo "worker $sid never drew a composer; inspect terminal?tail=" >&2
[ "$r" = true ] || { echo "worker $sid never drew a composer; deleted it. Retry by hand via the §5.2 ladder (its billed stage-4 probe included)" >&2
delete_session "$sid" >/dev/null; return 1; }
printf '%s\n' "$sid"
}
# spawn_workers <caseName>... -> one "<caseName> <sessionId>" line per worker, in order.
# CONCURRENT: N workers cost about what one costs. Spawning them one Bash call at a time
# is the single biggest avoidable delay in this skill.
# spawn_workers <caseName>... -> one "<caseName> <sessionId>" line per worker, in order;
# the sessionId column is EMPTY for a spawn that failed (stderr has why). CONCURRENT:
# N workers cost about what one costs. Spawning them one Bash call at a time is the
# single biggest avoidable delay in this skill. Names must be UNIQUE: two workers in
# one case directory co-edit the same tree (§4), so a repeat is an error here, not a race.
spawn_workers() {
local d n
local d n i=0
[ "$#" -gt 0 ] || { echo "spawn_workers: no case names given" >&2; return 1; }
[ -z "$(printf '%s\n' "$@" | sort | uniq -d)" ] || { echo "spawn_workers: duplicate case names" >&2; return 1; }
d=$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/codeman-spawn.XXXXXX") || return 1
for n in "$@"; do ( spawn_worker "$n" > "$d/$n" ) & done
for n in "$@"; do ( spawn_worker "$n" > "$d/$i" ) & i=$((i+1)); done
wait
for n in "$@"; do printf '%s %s\n' "$n" "$(cat "$d/$n" 2>/dev/null)"; done
i=0; for n in "$@"; do printf '%s %s\n' "$n" "$(cat "$d/$i" 2>/dev/null)"; i=$((i+1)); done
rm -rf "$d"
}
# sendwait <sid> <prompt> [seq] -> blocks until that worker's turn ENDS. One billed turn.
# The \r and the per-worker clientId are applied here, which is why you never hand-build
# this body. Trustworthy wherever quick-start CREATED the case (those always have hooks).
# sendwait <sid> <prompt> [seq] -> blocks until that worker's turn ENDS (~10 min ceiling
# across its two waits). One billed turn. The \r and the per-worker clientId are applied
# here, which is why you never hand-build this body. seq defaults to the CURRENT EPOCH
# SECOND so that every new prompt is a new frame: the server drops any (clientId,seq)
# pair it has already applied, so a fixed default would make every later prompt to that
# worker a silent no-op that still "succeeds" and reports the previous turn's state.
# Pass seq explicitly for exactly one reason: resending a possibly-delivered frame as a
# deliberate duplicate, at the SAME number (§5.3).
# Delivery is SELF-HEALING: an Ink repaint occasionally eats the Enter, leaving the
# typed prompt stranded on the composer while a long wait runs its whole timeout
# (observed live). So the first wait is short; on its timeout a bare \r goes out (the
# missing Enter when the prompt is stranded, a no-op when the turn is genuinely
# running), then the ORIGINAL frame is resent unchanged, which the server takes as a
# tagged duplicate: it re-waits without retyping (§5.3). Trustworthy only for a claude
# worker spawn_worker handed back (hooks vetted); hook-less workspaces and other modes
# resolve on flapping idle: markers instead (§5.5).
sendwait() {
local sid="${1:?}" p="${2:?}" seq="${3:-2}"
"${CURL[@]}" -X POST "$API/api/v1/sessions/$sid/input" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-binary "$(jq -nc --arg p "$p" --arg c "$CID-$sid" --argjson s "$seq" \
'{input:($p+"\r"),useMux:true,clientId:$c,seq:$s,wait:true,waitTimeout:600000}')"
local sid="${1:?}" p="${2:?}" seq="${3:-$(date +%s)}" body r
body=$(jq -nc --arg p "$p" --arg c "$CID-$sid" --argjson s "$seq" \
'{input:($p+"\r"),useMux:true,clientId:$c,seq:$s,wait:true,waitTimeout:20000}')
r=$("${CURL[@]}" -X POST "$API/api/v1/sessions/$sid/input" \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' --data-binary "$body")
if jq -e '.data.delivered and .data.wait.timedOut' <<<"$r" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
"${CURL[@]}" -X POST "$API/api/v1/sessions/$sid/input" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d "$(jq -nc --arg c "$CID-$sid" --argjson s "$(date +%s)" \
'{input:"\r",useMux:true,clientId:$c,seq:$s}')" >/dev/null
r=$("${CURL[@]}" -X POST "$API/api/v1/sessions/$sid/input" \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' --data-binary "$(jq -c '.waitTimeout=580000' <<<"$body")")
fi
printf '%s\n' "$r"
}
# last_text <sid> -> that worker's last assistant message. Polled, because the transcript
# write LAGS the stop signal. Non-zero exit means it really never wrote one.
# last_text <sid> [prev] -> that worker's last assistant message. Polled, because the
# transcript write LAGS the stop signal, and "some text exists" is not "THIS turn's
# text exists": right after a SECOND turn on the same worker the endpoint still serves
# the previous answer for a beat (observed live). When reading consecutive turns, pass
# the previous answer as [prev]: the poll then holds out for text that differs from it,
# falling back to whatever it last saw if the budget runs dry, so an honestly repeated
# answer still comes back. Non-zero exit means the worker really never wrote one.
last_text() {
local t
local t="" prev="${2:-}"
for _ in $(seq 1 15); do
t=$("${CURL[@]}" "$API/api/v1/sessions/$1/last-response" | jq -r '.data.text // empty')
[ -n "$t" ] && { printf '%s\n' "$t"; return 0; }
[ -n "$t" ] && [ "$t" != "$prev" ] && { printf '%s\n' "$t"; return 0; }
sleep 1
done
[ -n "$t" ] && { printf '%s\n' "$t"; return 0; }
return 1
}
@@ -208,17 +260,29 @@ to assemble and no per-call body to hand-build.
```bash
. "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/codeman-agent-$CODEMAN_SESSION_ID.sh" # §0
declare -A W P
P[alpha]='reply with one line: the absolute path of your working directory'
P[beta]='reply with one line: your model name'
N=(alpha beta) # one FRESH case name per worker
T=('reply with one line: the absolute path of your working directory'
'reply with one line: your model name') # tasks, same order as N
while read -r n s; do W[$n]=$s; done < <(spawn_workers "${!P[@]}") # concurrent
for n in "${!W[@]}"; do [ -n "${W[$n]}" ] || { echo "spawn failed: $n (see §5.1)"; exit 1; }; done
S=(); while read -r _ s; do S+=("$s"); done < <(spawn_workers "${N[@]}") # concurrent
for i in "${!N[@]}"; do [ -n "${S[$i]:-}" ] || FAIL=1; done
[ -z "${FAIL:-}" ] || { echo "a spawn failed (stderr says why; §5.1): deleting the siblings"
for s in "${S[@]}"; do [ -n "$s" ] && delete_session "$s" >/dev/null; done; exit 1; }
D=$(mktemp -d); for n in "${!W[@]}"; do sendwait "${W[$n]}" "${P[$n]}" > "$D/$n" & done; wait
for n in "${!W[@]}"; do jq -c --arg n "$n" '{worker:$n, signal:.data.wait.signal}' "$D/$n"; done
for n in "${!W[@]}"; do echo "== $n"; last_text "${W[$n]}" || echo "(no response written)"; done
for n in "${!W[@]}"; do delete_session "${W[$n]}" >/dev/null; done; rm -rf "$D"
D=$(mktemp -d) || { for s in "${S[@]}"; do delete_session "$s" >/dev/null; done; exit 1; }
for i in "${!N[@]}"; do sendwait "${S[$i]}" "${T[$i]}" > "$D/$i" & done; wait
for i in "${!N[@]}"; do
jq -ce --arg n "${N[$i]}" \
'{worker:$n,delivered:.data.delivered,timedOut:.data.wait.timedOut,signal:.data.wait.signal}' \
"$D/$i" || echo "{\"worker\":\"${N[$i]}\",\"error\":\"send produced no result\"}"
echo "== ${N[$i]}"; last_text "${S[$i]}" || echo "(no response written)"
done
for i in "${!N[@]}"; do # delete ONLY what finished; a timeout means STILL WORKING (§3 rule 5)
if jq -e '.success and .data.delivered and (.data.wait.timedOut|not)' "$D/$i" >/dev/null 2>&1
then delete_session "${S[$i]}" >/dev/null
else echo "kept ${N[$i]} (${S[$i]}): its line above says why; re-wait or repair (§5.3), then delete_session it"
fi
done; rm -rf "$D"
```
Measured against a live 1.18.0 server: two cold workers spawned and ready in **6.3 s**,
@@ -229,26 +293,26 @@ the time went into deliberation, not the API. The three things that actually cos
`wait`, as above, makes N workers cost about what one costs.
- **Re-deriving the happy path** from §5.1 + §5.2 + §5.3 + §5.10. That is what the
preamble functions exist to end. Compose them; do not rebuild them.
- **Verifying what is already guaranteed.** Two checks specifically are not worth a call
here: `quick-start` on a case name **it creates** always writes hooks, so `stop` fires
and `sendwait` is trustworthy without reading `settings.local.json`; and the pid poll is
dead weight, because `wait-output` already blocks on the composer.
- **Verifying what is already checked for you.** Two verifications specifically are not
worth a call here, because `spawn_worker` carries them: the hooks check (it refuses a
name that resolved to a hook-less directory with one local grep, so a worker it hands
back always has a working `stop` and `sendwait` is trustworthy), and the pid poll,
which is dead weight because `wait-output` already blocks on the composer.
Four things this block leans on, each one link away, no detour needed to run it:
- Those case names create **fresh scratch directories** under `~/codeman-cases/<name>`,
not your repo. Spawning where the work actually is (a linked case, a git worktree) is
a different call with **no hooks**, and it is the mistake with the highest cost: §5.1.
That is also the one case where the hook check above is required rather than skippable.
- `sendwait` supplies the `\r`. A prompt without it is never submitted and everything
downstream times out: §3.
- Those case names must be **fresh scratch names**: they create
`~/codeman-cases/<name>`, not your repo. A name that already means something (a
linked case, a pre-existing directory) is refused by `spawn_worker` rather than
silently reused. Spawning where the work actually is (a linked case, a git worktree)
is a different call with **no hooks**, and the costliest mistake in this skill: §5.1.
- `sendwait` supplies the `\r`, picks a fresh `seq`, and self-heals a stranded Enter.
A prompt without the `\r` is never submitted (§3), a reused `seq` is silently
swallowed as an already-applied duplicate, and an Enter eaten by an Ink repaint
strands the prompt on the composer until a bare `\r` follows: all three are reasons
to let `sendwait` build the call rather than hand-rolling it.
- Each `sendwait` costs that worker one billed turn, as does every prompt you send it.
- Deleting the sessions does **not** remove the case directories: §5.14.
- The prompt ends with `\r`. Without it nothing is submitted and everything downstream
times out: §3.
- The send-and-wait call costs the worker one billed turn, as does every prompt you
send it.
- Deleting the session does **not** remove the case directory it created: §5.14.
## 2. What do you want to do?