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Add /compact skill for manual context compaction (#817)

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* feat: add /compact skill for manual context compaction

added /compact session command to fight context rot in long-running sessions. Uses Claude Agent SDK's built-in /compact command with auth gating (main-group or is_from_me only).

* simplify: remove group-queue modification, streamline denied path confirmed against fresh-clone merge.

* refactor: extract handleSessionCommand from index.ts into session-commands.ts

Verified: 345/345 tests pass on fresh-clone merge.
This commit is contained in:
Akshan Krithick
2026-03-08 14:59:17 -07:00
committed by GitHub
parent 4ccc5c57f2
commit 8521e42f7b
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---
name: add-compact
description: Add /compact command for manual context compaction. Solves context rot in long sessions by forwarding the SDK's built-in /compact slash command. Main-group or trusted sender only.
---
# Add /compact Command
Adds a `/compact` session command that compacts conversation history to fight context rot in long-running sessions. Uses the Claude Agent SDK's built-in `/compact` slash command — no synthetic system prompts.
**Session contract:** `/compact` keeps the same logical session alive. The SDK returns a new session ID after compaction (via the `init` system message), which the agent-runner forwards to the orchestrator as `newSessionId`. No destructive reset occurs — the agent retains summarized context.
## Phase 1: Pre-flight
Read `.nanoclaw/state.yaml`. If `add-compact` is in `applied_skills`, skip to Phase 3 (Verify).
## Phase 2: Apply Code Changes
### Initialize skills system (if needed)
If `.nanoclaw/` directory doesn't exist:
```bash
npx tsx scripts/apply-skill.ts --init
```
### Apply the skill
```bash
npx tsx scripts/apply-skill.ts .claude/skills/add-compact
```
This deterministically:
- Adds `src/session-commands.ts` (extract and authorize session commands)
- Adds `src/session-commands.test.ts` (unit tests for command parsing and auth)
- Three-way merges session command interception into `src/index.ts` (both `processGroupMessages` and `startMessageLoop`)
- Three-way merges slash command handling into `container/agent-runner/src/index.ts`
- Records application in `.nanoclaw/state.yaml`
If merge conflicts occur, read the intent files:
- `modify/src/index.ts.intent.md`
- `modify/container/agent-runner/src/index.ts.intent.md`
### Validate
```bash
npm test
npm run build
```
### Rebuild container
```bash
./container/build.sh
```
### Restart service
```bash
launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.nanoclaw # macOS
# Linux: systemctl --user restart nanoclaw
```
## Phase 3: Verify
### Integration Test
1. Start NanoClaw in dev mode: `npm run dev`
2. From the **main group** (self-chat), send exactly: `/compact`
3. Verify:
- The agent acknowledges compaction (e.g., "Conversation compacted.")
- The session continues — send a follow-up message and verify the agent responds coherently
- A conversation archive is written to `groups/{folder}/conversations/` (by the PreCompact hook)
- Container logs show `Compact boundary observed` (confirms SDK actually compacted)
- If `compact_boundary` was NOT observed, the response says "compact_boundary was not observed"
4. From a **non-main group** as a non-admin user, send: `@<assistant> /compact`
5. Verify:
- The bot responds with "Session commands require admin access."
- No compaction occurs, no container is spawned for the command
6. From a **non-main group** as the admin (device owner / `is_from_me`), send: `@<assistant> /compact`
7. Verify:
- Compaction proceeds normally (same behavior as main group)
8. While an **active container** is running for the main group, send `/compact`
9. Verify:
- The active container is signaled to close (authorized senders only — untrusted senders cannot kill in-flight work)
- Compaction proceeds via a new container once the active one exits
- The command is not dropped (no cursor race)
10. Send a normal message, then `/compact`, then another normal message in quick succession (same polling batch):
11. Verify:
- Pre-compact messages are sent to the agent first (check container logs for two `runAgent` calls)
- Compaction proceeds after pre-compact messages are processed
- Messages **after** `/compact` in the batch are preserved (cursor advances to `/compact`'s timestamp only) and processed on the next poll cycle
12. From a **non-main group** as a non-admin user, send `@<assistant> /compact`:
13. Verify:
- Denial message is sent ("Session commands require admin access.")
- The `/compact` is consumed (cursor advanced) — it does NOT replay on future polls
- Other messages in the same batch are also consumed (cursor is a high-water mark — this is an accepted tradeoff for the narrow edge case of denied `/compact` + other messages in the same polling interval)
- No container is killed or interrupted
14. From a **non-main group** (with `requiresTrigger` enabled) as a non-admin user, send bare `/compact` (no trigger prefix):
15. Verify:
- No denial message is sent (trigger policy prevents untrusted bot responses)
- The `/compact` is consumed silently
- Note: in groups where `requiresTrigger` is `false`, a denial message IS sent because the sender is considered reachable
16. After compaction, verify **no auto-compaction** behavior — only manual `/compact` triggers it
### Validation on Fresh Clone
```bash
git clone <your-fork> /tmp/nanoclaw-test
cd /tmp/nanoclaw-test
claude # then run /add-compact
npm run build
npm test
./container/build.sh
# Manual: send /compact from main group, verify compaction + continuation
# Manual: send @<assistant> /compact from non-main as non-admin, verify denial
# Manual: send @<assistant> /compact from non-main as admin, verify allowed
# Manual: verify no auto-compaction behavior
```
## Security Constraints
- **Main-group or trusted/admin sender only.** The main group is the user's private self-chat and is trusted (see `docs/SECURITY.md`). Non-main groups are untrusted — a careless or malicious user could wipe the agent's short-term memory. However, the device owner (`is_from_me`) is always trusted and can compact from any group.
- **No auto-compaction.** This skill implements manual compaction only. Automatic threshold-based compaction is a separate concern and should be a separate skill.
- **No config file.** NanoClaw's philosophy is customization through code changes, not configuration sprawl.
- **Transcript archived before compaction.** The existing `PreCompact` hook in the agent-runner archives the full transcript to `conversations/` before the SDK compacts it.
- **Session continues after compaction.** This is not a destructive reset. The conversation continues with summarized context.
## What This Does NOT Do
- No automatic compaction threshold (add separately if desired)
- No `/clear` command (separate skill, separate semantics — `/clear` is a destructive reset)
- No cross-group compaction (each group's session is isolated)
- No changes to the container image, Dockerfile, or build script
## Troubleshooting
- **"Session commands require admin access"**: Only the device owner (`is_from_me`) or main-group senders can use `/compact`. Other users are denied.
- **No compact_boundary in logs**: The SDK may not emit this event in all versions. Check the agent-runner logs for the warning message. Compaction may still have succeeded.
- **Pre-compact failure**: If messages before `/compact` fail to process, the error message says "Failed to process messages before /compact." The cursor advances past sent output to prevent duplicates; `/compact` remains pending for the next attempt.