feat(skills): surface system-prompt description truncation to skill authors (salvage #24294) - #70519
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…ription helpers The system prompt skill index truncates long descriptions to 57 chars, but this limit was a hardcoded magic number. Extract it as a named constant and factor the normalization logic into a shared private helper so the extraction function and the new truncation predicate cannot drift. No behaviour change — pure refactor.
…t limit When a skill is created or edited with a description longer than SKILL_PROMPT_DESC_LIMIT (60 chars), the tool response now includes a system_prompt_preview field showing exactly what the system prompt skill index will display. This gives the agent immediate feedback to self-correct truncated trigger phrases. Also adds tool schema guidance about the 57-char window and fixes a stale docstring in skill_commands.py that incorrectly claimed the system prompt renders the full description.
…d curator The skill-authoring guide and curator prompt both reference descriptions as the primary discovery mechanism but never mentioned the 57-char system prompt truncation. Add explicit guidance: - Authoring guide: frontmatter docs, template comment, size limits, pitfall #3 with good/bad examples, verification checklist - Curator prompt: parenthetical noting the 57-char window when writing umbrella skill descriptions
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૮ >ﻌ< ა ci reviewran on 826a48e ℹ️ InfoDesktop E2E visual evidence · View test artifacts · View job1 visual diff. inline evidence upload failed. Failed to upload diff-665a0833239e-onboarding-overlay-diff.png with gh image (exit code 1): Error uploading /home/runner/work/_temp/e2e-evidence/diff-665a0833239e-onboarding-overlay-diff.png: step 0 (get upload token): uploadToken not found on repo page — do you have write access to NousResearch/hermes-agent? (or, if NousResearch enforces SAML SSO, authorize at https://github.com/orgs/NousResearch/sso) |
This was referenced Jul 24, 2026
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Summary
Skill authors now see exactly what the system-prompt skill index will display when their description exceeds the 60-char budget — instead of silently losing routing signal to truncation.
Salvages PR #24294 by @AlanBurningsuit (May 12) onto current main. This is the maintainer-approved direction from #13944: keep the 60-char prompt-index cap (raising it was rejected for prompt bloat), make the constraint visible at authoring time.
Changes
agent/skill_utils.py: extract hardcoded60asSKILL_PROMPT_DESC_LIMIT+ shared_normalize_skill_description()helper +is_skill_description_truncated_for_prompt()predicatetools/skill_manager_tool.py:skill_managecreate/edit responses includesystem_prompt_previewshowing the truncated form when the description is over budgetagent/curator.py,agent/skill_commands.py: use the shared constant/helperskills/software-development/hermes-agent-skill-authoring/SKILL.md: document the truncationtests/tools/test_skill_manager_tool.py: preview + boundary coveragecontributors/emails/: mapping for @AlanBurningsuitValidation
scripts/run_tests.sh tests/tools/test_skill_manager_tool.py tests/agent/test_skill_utils.pyCredit: @AlanBurningsuit, commit authorship preserved via cherry-pick + rebase merge. Independent +1 from @technicalpickles on the original PR.
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