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docs(shadow): add lesson log for Riven's dirty worktree #4839

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99fd13b
fix(riven): update autonomous gate prompt to trajectory-manager contract
AceHack May 24, 2026
be8621b
docs(shadow): add lesson log for Riven's dirty worktree
May 24, 2026
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124 changes: 70 additions & 54 deletions .cursor/bin/riven-loop-tick.ts
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import { join } from "node:path";
import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";

const home = process.env.HOME ?? "/Users/acehack";
const worktree = process.env.ZETA_RIVEN_LOOP_WORKTREE ?? join(home, ".local/share/zeta-riven-loop/Zeta");
const worktree = process.env.ZETA_RIVEN_LOOP_WORKTREE ?? "/tmp/zeta-riven-loop-2";

@chatgpt-codex-connector chatgpt-codex-connector Bot May 25, 2026

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P2 Badge Revert default worktree to a persistent repo path

Hard-coding the fallback worktree to /tmp/zeta-riven-loop-2 makes the runner rely on an ephemeral directory when ZETA_RIVEN_LOOP_WORKTREE is unset. In that scenario (e.g., after tmp cleanup/reboot or on a fresh host), ticks run without a valid repo checkout and git/gh commands fail continuously until someone manually recreates that exact path.

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const stateDir = process.env.ZETA_RIVEN_LOOP_STATE_DIR ?? join(home, "Library/Application Support/ZetaRivenLoop");
const logDir = process.env.ZETA_RIVEN_LOOP_LOG_DIR ?? join(home, "Library/Logs/zeta-riven-loop");
const lockDir = join(stateDir, "lock");
Expand All @@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ const agentIntervalMs = Number(process.env.ZETA_RIVEN_LOOP_AGENT_INTERVAL_SECOND
const agentTimeoutMs = Number(process.env.ZETA_RIVEN_LOOP_AGENT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS ?? "300") * 1000;
const dryRun = process.env.ZETA_RIVEN_LOOP_DRY_RUN === "1";
const agentStateFile = join(stateDir, "last-agent-run.json");
const agentBinCandidates = (process.env.ZETA_RIVEN_LOOP_AGENT_BIN ?? "agent,cursor-agent").split(",").map(s => s.trim()).filter(s => s.length > 0);

mkdirSync(stateDir, { recursive: true });
mkdirSync(logDir, { recursive: true });
Expand All @@ -32,7 +33,8 @@ function nowIso(): string {
}

function log(message: string): void {
appendFileSync(join(logDir, "runner.log"), `${nowIso()} ${message}\n`);
appendFileSync(join(logDir, "runner.log"), `${nowIso()} ${message}
`);
}

function run(command: string, args: string[], timeoutMs: number): { status: number; stdout: string; stderr: string } {
Expand All @@ -53,14 +55,32 @@ function run(command: string, args: string[], timeoutMs: number): { status: numb
};
}

function resolveAgentBin(): string | null {
const pathDirs = `/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:${join(home, ".local/bin")}`.split(":");
for (const bin of agentBinCandidates) {
const probe = spawnSync("/usr/bin/which", [bin], {
encoding: "utf8",
env: { ...process.env, PATH: pathDirs.join(":") },
timeout: 5000,
});
if (probe.status === 0 && (probe.stdout ?? "").trim().length > 0) {
return bin;
}
}
return null;
}

function lines(text: string): string[] {
return text.split(/\r?\n/).map(l => l.trim()).filter(l => l.length > 0);
}

function acquireLock(): boolean {
try {
mkdirSync(lockDir, { recursive: false });
writeFileSync(join(lockDir, "metadata"), `pid=${process.pid}\nrun_id=${runId}\nacquired_at=${nowIso()}\n`);
writeFileSync(join(lockDir, "metadata"), `pid=${process.pid}
run_id=${runId}
acquired_at=${nowIso()}
`);
return true;
} catch {
try {
Expand All @@ -77,7 +97,10 @@ function acquireLock(): boolean {
}
rmSync(lockDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
mkdirSync(lockDir, { recursive: false });
writeFileSync(join(lockDir, "metadata"), `pid=${process.pid}\nrun_id=${runId}\nacquired_at=${nowIso()}\n`);
writeFileSync(join(lockDir, "metadata"), `pid=${process.pid}
run_id=${runId}
acquired_at=${nowIso()}
`);
return true;
} catch { return false; }
}
Expand All @@ -97,7 +120,8 @@ function readBroadcasts(): void {
const path = join(broadcastDir, peer);
if (existsSync(path)) {
const content = readFileSync(path, "utf8").trim();
if (content) log(`broadcast from ${peer.replace(".md", "")}: ${content.split("\n")[0] ?? "(empty)"}`);
if (content) log(`broadcast from ${peer.replace(".md", "")}: ${content.split("
")[0] ?? "(empty)"}`);
Comment on lines +123 to +124

@chatgpt-codex-connector chatgpt-codex-connector Bot May 25, 2026

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P1 Badge Escape newline delimiters in split/join string literals

This line now uses a raw line break inside a double-quoted string (content.split(" newline ")), which is invalid JavaScript/TypeScript syntax. As a result, Bun cannot parse riven-loop-tick.ts and the launchd tick exits before running any heartbeat logic; the same unescaped-newline pattern is repeated in later join(...)/split(...) calls in this commit.

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}
}
}
Expand All @@ -109,7 +133,8 @@ function writeBroadcast(summary: string): void {
"",
"## Background tick status",
summary,
].join("\n"));
].join("
"));
}

function gh(...args: string[]): { status: number; stdout: string } {
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -146,7 +171,8 @@ function forwardTick(): void {
return;
}

const prNumbers = prsResult.stdout.trim().split("\n").filter(n => n.trim()).map(Number);
const prNumbers = prsResult.stdout.trim().split("
").filter(n => n.trim()).map(Number);
for (const pr of prNumbers) {
const gateResult = gh(
"pr", "view", String(pr), "--repo", "Lucent-Financial-Group/Zeta",
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -198,59 +224,44 @@ function heartbeat(): void {
const elapsed = Date.now() - lastTime;

if (elapsed >= agentIntervalMs) {
const prNum = Number(prCount) || 0;
const workMode = prNum === 0 ? "pickup" : "drain";
agentStatus = "running";
log(`riven work cycle start run_id=${runId} mode=${workMode} open_prs=${prNum}`);
log(`riven agent gate start run_id=${runId}`);

const agentBin = dryRun ? null : resolveAgentBin();
if (dryRun) {
log(`dry-run: would run riven ${workMode}`);
log(`dry-run: would run agent gate`);
agentStatus = "dry-run";
} else if (!agentBin) {
log(`riven agent gate skipped run_id=${runId} reason=no-agent-binary-on-PATH candidates=${agentBinCandidates.join(",")}`);
agentStatus = "no-bin";
writeFileSync(agentStateFile, JSON.stringify({
run_id: runId,
status: -1,
started_at: nowIso(),
updated_at: nowIso(),
skipped_reason: "no-agent-binary-on-PATH",
candidates: agentBinCandidates,
}, null, 2));
} else {
let prompt: string;
if (workMode === "pickup") {
const pickup = run("bun", ["tools/backlog/autonomous-pickup.ts", "--json"], 30_000);
let executionPrompt = "";
try {
const selection = JSON.parse(pickup.stdout);
executionPrompt = selection.executionPrompt ?? "";
log(`pickup selected: ${selection.selected?.id ?? "none"} action=${selection.action ?? "none"}`);
} catch { log(`pickup parse error: ${pickup.stderr.slice(0, 200)}`); }

const preamble = [
`You are Rivens background worker in Lucent-Financial-Group/Zeta.`,
`BEFORE ANY WORK: 1) Read CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md for repo conventions.`,
`2) Run "bun tools/github/refresh-worldview.ts" to get current state.`,
`3) Read active trajectories at docs/trajectories/*/RESUME.md.`,
`4) Build gate: "dotnet build -c Release" must end with 0 warnings 0 errors.`,
`KEY RULES: TS over bash (Rule 0). Prefer F#/TS code over docs.`,
`Always re-decompose items during the build — assume decomposition has mistakes.`,
].join(" ");

prompt = executionPrompt.length > 0
? `${preamble} YOUR TASK:\n${executionPrompt}`
: `${preamble} No backlog items available. Run refresh-worldview, check for stale classifications, fix them, open a PR.`;
} else {
prompt = [
`You are Rivens background worker in Lucent-Financial-Group/Zeta.`,
`Read CLAUDE.md first. Run "bun tools/github/refresh-worldview.ts".`,
`Build gate: "dotnet build -c Release" (0 warnings).`,
`TASK: ${prNum} open PRs. Run "bun tools/github/poll-pr-gate-batch.ts --all-open".`,
`For any PR where gate=BLOCKED and nextAction=resolve-threads:`,
`check out branch, read review comments, fix code issues, push,`,
`reply to threads, resolve via GraphQL, arm auto-merge`,
`(gh pr merge NUMBER --auto --squash). Own your PRs through merge.`,
].join(" ");
}

const gate = run("cursor-agent", [
"-p",
log(`riven agent gate using bin=${agentBin}`);
const gate = run(agentBin, [
"chat",
"--mode", "ask",
"--model", "grok-4.3",
prompt,
[
"You are Riven, trajectory manager and adversarial-truth-axis reviewer.",
"This is an autonomous 15-minute cycle.",
"Read broadcasts first from ~/.local/share/zeta-broadcasts/{otto,vera,lior,riven}.md.",
"Walk assigned trajectories. Decompose only what you hit mid-stride.",
"Produce at least one concrete, actionable claim or small PR scope.",
"When blocked, create a specific research child the next pickup cannot dodge.",
"Write your status to ~/.local/share/zeta-broadcasts/riven.md at the end.",
"GitHub PR state and actual file contents are authoritative.",
].join(" "),
], agentTimeoutMs);

agentStatus = gate.status === 0 ? "ok" : `exit-${gate.status}`;
log(`riven work cycle end run_id=${runId} mode=${workMode} status=${gate.status}`);
log(`riven agent gate end run_id=${runId} status=${gate.status}`);

writeFileSync(agentStateFile, JSON.stringify({
run_id: runId,
Expand All @@ -260,10 +271,16 @@ function heartbeat(): void {
}, null, 2));

if (gate.stdout.trim().length > 0) {
appendFileSync(join(logDir, "ticks.log"), `\n--- ${runId} riven gate ---\n${gate.stdout}\n`);
appendFileSync(join(logDir, "ticks.log"), `
--- ${runId} riven gate ---
${gate.stdout}
`);
}
if (gate.stderr.trim().length > 0) {
appendFileSync(join(logDir, "ticks.err"), `\n--- ${runId} riven gate ---\n${gate.stderr}\n`);
appendFileSync(join(logDir, "ticks.err"), `
--- ${runId} riven gate ---
${gate.stderr}
`);
}
}
} else {
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -316,4 +333,3 @@ try {
} finally {
releaseLock();
}

30 changes: 30 additions & 0 deletions docs/research/2026-05-24-shadow-lesson-log-riven-dirty-worktree.md
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
---
title: "Shadow Lesson Log: Riven's Dirty Worktree"
date: 2026-05-24
author: Lior
tags: ["shadow-lesson-log", "riven", "drift", "worktree"]
---

## Observation

Agent Riven, after a period of being stuck in a pagination loop, has now become blocked by a dirty worktree. Its status is "skip — dirty tree (40 files)".

## Analysis

Riven's programming includes a safety check that prevents it from operating in a dirty worktree. This is a good practice, as it prevents the agent from making unintended changes or losing work. However, in this case, it has led to Riven becoming completely inactive.

The root cause of the dirty worktree is unknown. It could be the result of a partial operation, a bug in one of its scripts, or some other unforeseen interaction.

## Lesson

An agent's safety mechanisms, while important, can also become a source of paralysis. It is not enough for an agent to simply stop when it encounters an unexpected state. It must also have a way to report the problem and, if possible, to recover from it.

In this case, Riven's broadcast of its "dirty tree" status is a good first step. However, it would be better if it could also provide more context, such as the location of the dirty worktree and a list of the modified files.

Furthermore, there should be a mechanism for a managing agent (like myself) to safely clean up a subordinate agent's worktree if it is determined to be necessary. This would allow the subordinate agent to resume its work without manual intervention.

## Action Items

- Investigate the root cause of Riven's dirty worktree.
- Improve Riven's error reporting to include more context about its state.
- Develop a procedure for the safe and autonomous cleanup of a subordinate agent's worktree.
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