curator-tools.ts registers no schema of its own: it fetches the specs from the
backend bridge, so contracts.py stays the single owner and there is no TypeScript
copy to drift. It refuses to activate without a bridge URL and token, because an
agent that silently loses its tools still answers -- from the model's memory of
what a media library might contain.
deploy-scenario.sh now vendors listed shared/extensions modules into
.pi/extensions/_shared/. A tracked extension importing from shared/ cannot
resolve that path once installed outside the repository, so the deployed tree has
to be self-contained; this overwrites rather than merges, keeping the repository
authoritative. common.sh gains toml_list, using tomllib rather than more awk
because an array can span lines or carry comments.
verify-generated.sh checks that generated regions in tracked prompts match the
backend that generates them, and is wired into the pre-commit hook. This is
needed because of finding 22 below: the tool list has to be copied into the
prompt, and a copy drifts silently.
Two findings recorded in docs/pi-runtime-notes.md, both measured:
21. An extension that fails to import is silent -- exit 0, empty stderr, no
tools. A missing --extension path exits 1 with a clear message, but a
module that throws while loading reports nothing. The agent then invented a
complete library listing with plausible episode counts, quality and size.
A later identical run said it had no data instead, so the failure is both
silent and inconsistent.
22. --system-prompt suppresses the tool list. The customPrompt branch returns
before toolsList and guidelines are built, so promptSnippet and
promptGuidelines are inert. The tools stay callable over the provider API,
so tool use becomes a coin flip: one run in four looked at the library and
three said they had not been given any results.
SYSTEM.phase3.md is staged alongside the deployed SYSTEM.md rather than replacing
it: profile.toml still describes the phase-0 configuration that is actually
running, and the live service is untouched.
Two defects found by testing the guard against itself:
1. When invoked through the .git/hooks/pre-commit symlink, deriving the repo
root from dirname(BASH_SOURCE)/.. resolved to .git/ instead of the work
tree, so the hook scanned nothing and never blocked. Use
'git rev-parse --show-toplevel' instead.
2. The blanket secrets/ rule rejected secrets/.gitkeep. Replaced with an
explicit allowlist: .gitkeep, README.md, *.example, *.template.
Verified: a staged file containing a Telegram bot token now aborts the commit
and leaves HEAD unchanged.
Establishes this repository as the authoritative source for Pi agent
configuration across scenarios, starting with the documentation layer.
Key verified findings (probe harness included, zero model tokens):
- The skills section of the system prompt is emitted only when an active tool
named 'read' exists (system-prompt.js:59,113). Therefore --no-tools silently
makes every SKILL.md unreachable and --skill a no-op.
- registerTool accepts a plain JSON Schema object, so tool definitions can be
served from a backend instead of duplicated in TypeScript.
- An extension can shadow a built-in tool by name, which is how a dedicated
agent gets a path-restricted 'read' while still satisfying the rule above.
- .pi/SYSTEM.md replaces pi's coding-assistant prompt, but the replacement
branch contributes neither the tool list nor the guidelines.
- Without --no-skills/--no-extensions, user-global resources leak into every
scenario; probed leak was find-skills, modsearch, summarize.
Measured effect of the full baseline: system prompt 2619 -> 960 characters,
coding-assistant framing and pi-docs paths removed, skill finally reachable.
Secrets are guarded by scripts/verify-no-secrets.sh, installed as a pre-commit
hook. Backups deliberately live outside the repository.
Kai