Add read-only agent observe skill

[sethkarten]

Summary

• add a bundled agent-observe Python skill for read-only observation of active daemon sessions
• expose daemon-backed host handlers for list_agents, get_agent, and bounded recent_messages
• keep the observe surface read-only and hide the skill outside daemon-backed sessions

Safety

• no prompt/steer/clear/kill/rename mutation methods are exposed through the skill
• recent messages are bounded by count and per-message character limits
• tool-call previews include tool names, not arguments

Validation

• npx vitest --run packages/coding-agent/test/agent-observe.test.ts packages/coding-agent/test/suite/agent-session-observe.test.ts packages/coding-agent/test/kernel-agent-observe-skill.test.ts packages/coding-agent/test/builtin-skills.test.ts packages/coding-agent/test/daemon-mode.test.ts
• npx tsgo --noEmit --pretty false
• npm run check
• npm run test -- --run

Note

Add read-only agent-observe skill for inspecting active daemon sessions

• Adds a new Python skill (agent_observe) exposing list_agents, get_agent, and recent_messages functions that route through the host bridge to query active daemon sessions.
• Implements the TypeScript host-side handlers in agent-observe.ts, including input validation, limit/maxChars clamping (1–50 and 80–2000), and message preview construction that exposes tool call names but not arguments.
• Wires an AgentObserveController into AgentSession and AgentDaemon so both top-level sessions and RLM subagents can serve observe requests; the skill is hidden from the model when no controller is present.
• Adds tests covering preview generation, host bridge routing, Python-side type validation, and skill bundling.

^{Macroscope summarized e7bba05.}

---

Note

Medium Risk
Opens a new read-only channel for agents to read truncated content from other daemon sessions in the same process; mitigated by no mutation APIs and bounded previews, but still a cross-session information leak surface for orchestration.

Overview
Introduces a read-only cross-session observation path for agents running under the local daemon. A new bundled agent-observe Python skill (agent_observe.list_agents, get_agent, recent_messages) forwards to TypeScript host handlers; the daemon implements AgentObserveController over all live runtimes (top-level and RLM subagents).

AgentSession accepts an optional agentObserveController, wires agent_observe.* kernel host requests, and hides the skill from the system prompt when no controller is configured (local-only sessions). Message previews are bounded (limit 1–50, max_chars 80–2000) and assistant tool previews expose names only, not arguments.

Tests cover preview helpers, session routing, kernel bridge, bundled skill discovery, and controller forwarding through session services.

^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit e7bba05. Bugbot is set up for automated code reviews on this repo. Configure here.}

[macroscopeapp]

🟠 High agent-observe/pyproject.toml:1

The pyproject.toml is missing the [build-system] section required for editable installation. When uv pip install --editable falls back to setuptools (which happens without an explicit build-system), the src/agent_observe/ layout may not be discovered correctly, causing the skill to fail to install and be silently unavailable at runtime.

+[build-system]
+requires = ["hatchling"]
+build-backend = "hatchling.build"
+
+[tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]
+packages = ["src/agent_observe"]
+
 [project]
 name = "agent-observe"
 version = "0.1.0"
 description = "Read-only Prime Agent session observation skill"
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
 
 [tool.prime_agent.skill]
 import = "agent_observe"

🚀 Reply "fix it for me" or copy this AI Prompt for your agent:

In file @packages/coding-agent/skills/agent-observe/pyproject.toml around lines 1-4:

The `pyproject.toml` is missing the `[build-system]` section required for editable installation. When `uv pip install --editable` falls back to setuptools (which happens without an explicit build-system), the `src/agent_observe/` layout may not be discovered correctly, causing the skill to fail to install and be silently unavailable at runtime.

[cursor]

Cursor Bugbot has reviewed your changes and found 1 potential issue.

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^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit e7bba05. Configure here.}

[cursor]

Observe stateRef set too late

Medium Severity

The daemon passes an agentObserveController into session creation before the corresponding ActiveSessionState exists, and only assigns stateRef after addRuntime finishes. Any agent_observe host call during that window (including background IPython prewarm or bindExtensions) hits requireCurrentState and errors with “Agent observe state is not ready for this session yet”.

Additional Locations (1)

• packages/coding-agent/src/modes/daemon/daemon-mode.ts#L408-L444

 

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[sethkarten]

Superseded by #207, which combines read-only agent observation with safe daemon-backed agent messaging into one user orchestrator PR.

[sethkarten]

Closing in favor of #207, which combines this read-only observe work with daemon-backed messaging and orchestration heartbeat support.