style(slack): replace loud bold uppercase section labels with bold sentence-case#81
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…ntence-case to sound more human
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…83) ## What this solves The recurring three-message cascade the operator has seen N times on Slack mentions: ``` msg 1 substantive reply ← what operator wanted msg 2 "apologies for the duplicate notify" ← false-positive retry msg 3 "<@op> something's wrong with me" ← daemon alert ``` Both layers were inferring "did Sam close the loop" from heuristics — regex over bash command strings (cascade layer 1) and the same inference re-applied to the retry session (cascade layer 2). Three known holes fired the cascade twice on 2026-05-25 in thread `1779688501.139669` (sessions `9843c66e6870` / `6afc1f60a477` / `a0ccae594a61` / `71e3df76652b`) and a third time on the bug-fix session `716d41decda1`. ## How Two commits, each independently revertable. ### `respond(text)` tool — `4a3542a` A structured close-the-loop tool on the main agent. Its call IS the gate signal — the classifier reads `respond_called`, not the trace. Cleanup work after the call (rm /tmp/x, tail /data/sessions.jsonl, journal writes) is harmless because ordering and substring matching no longer drive control flow. Auto-remediates the two mechanical mrkdwn rules: `### Heading` → `*Heading*`, standalone `---` → blank line. Warns (does not rewrite) on ALL CAPS labels and ` Sure!/Got it!` preambles — polish is OK, don't lock. Bash to ` chat.postMessage` still works as a fallback for experimental endpoints. The legacy regex classifier remains as the bash-path gate; ` respond` is canonical, not exclusive. Daily-maintenance flags recurring bash patterns that hit daemon/runtime limitations as tier-3 promotion candidates. ### Slack ground-truth alert suppression — `84c9f84` Before posting ` OPERATOR_ALERT_TEMPLATE`, query ` conversations.replies` on the originating thread. If the bot posted (via any path — including ones the regex missed), suppress the alert. The catch for genuine silent failures stays: when Slack confirms zero bot posts, the alert fires as today. Only affects the *alert* decision. The silent-exit retry itself still uses the regex classifier — that preserves the ACK-then-work-no-reply catch (sessions like ` 624e27ec` that opened PRs but never posted the result; Slack alone can't distinguish ACK from wrap-up). ## Cascade behavior, before vs after ``` BEFORE AFTER common case (clean post) 1 message 1 message bash hits regex hole 3 messages 2 messages both layers hit a hole 3 messages 2 messages genuine silent failure 3 messages 2 messages (the alert is the 2nd, which is correct here) ``` Worst case compresses from 3 → 2 permanently. ## What does NOT change - Voice rules in ` slack.md` / ` identity.md` — Sam's voice stays in Sam's prose. Only the two mechanical drift cases (` ###` headings, ` ---` rules) move to renderer behavior. - PR-comment followup — tracked in Linear separately. - Streaming — dropped from scope (separate question). - ` ask_operator` — unchanged. ## Tests 11 new tests in ` tests/runtime/test_silent_exit.py`: - 4 invariants for ` respond_called=True` paths (bash chaos around the call is harmless). - 2 fallback semantics (bash ` chat.postMessage` still satisfies; helper-script-without-respond still misses — documented limitation). - 5 for the alert-suppression helper + branch. All 181 tests pass locally. ## Files ``` src/capabilities/slack.md +18 -5 respond section, fallback rule, tier-3 link src/skills/daily-maintenance/skill.md +2 -0 tier-3 promotion signal note src/runtime/adk_runner.py +170 _clean_for_slack_mrkdwn + _make_respond_tool + registration src/runtime/prompts.py +24 -13 RETRY/SILENT_EXIT direct to `respond` src/runtime/session.py +32 -1 respond case in classifier, respond_called or fallback src/runtime/daemon.py +56 -2 _bot_posted_in_thread_since + suppression tests/runtime/test_silent_exit.py +335 -1 11 new tests, 4 helpers ``` ## Closes / supersedes Supersedes the closed ` #80` (helper-script regex patch) and ` #82` (prose rule asking the LLM to avoid the brittle classifier). ` #81` (sentence-case labels) stays merged unchanged.
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What is this change?
Replaces all rules and templates requiring loud, robotic bold uppercase section labels (like
*CHANGES SHIPPED*) with bold sentence-case or title-case (like*Changes shipped*), and updates documentation to explicitly discourage shouting uppercase labels in Slack chat messages.Files updated:
src/capabilities/slack.md— guidelines updated to recommend sentence-case/title-case and forbid ALL-CAPS section labels in short chat messages.src/skills/daily-maintenance/skill.md— daily broadcast section updated to sentence-case section labels.src/runtime/prompts.py— loop-closing retry summary prompt template updated to require sentence-case labels.What did Sam notice that led to this?
Sameer noted "capital letters" as an issue. Loud bold uppercase section labels in daily-maintenance broadcasts and loop-closing retries read as shouting and machine-like in Slack threads.
Tier?
Tier 1 (documentation & skills) and Tier 3 (retry prompts).
Confidence?
High confidence. Aesthetic/style correction aligned directly with operator preferences.