Pair supervisors before starting their model

Co-Authored-By: PI[Kimi K3] <288921227+claudypoo@users.noreply.github.com>

src/herdr.ts

@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ export function supervisorCommand(input: LaunchSupervisorInput): string {
 		"--name", `goals-supervisor-${input.workerSessionId.slice(0, 8)}`,
 	];
 	if (input.model) args.push("--model", input.model);
-	args.push("Initialize supervision startup.");
 	return `env ${[...env, ...args].map(shellQuote).join(" ")}`;
 }
 

src/supervisor-session.ts

@@ -80,34 +80,28 @@ export function registerVisibleSupervisor(pi: ExtensionAPI): void {
 	let compacting = false;
 	let bootstrapping = false;
 
-	pi.on("before_agent_start", async (_event, ctx) => {
-		await bootstrap(ctx);
-		return { systemPrompt: `${ctx.getSystemPrompt()}\n\n${supervisorPrompt(settings)}` };
-	});
-
 	const bootstrap = async (ctx: ExtensionContext): Promise<void> => {
 		if (bootstrapping) return;
 		const entries = ctx.sessionManager.getEntries();
 		if (entries.some((entry: { type?: string; customType?: string }) => entry.type === "custom" && entry.customType === BOOTSTRAPPED)) return;
 		bootstrapping = true;
-		compacting = true;
 		try {
-			await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
-				ctx.compact({
-					customInstructions: `Preserve the user's decisions, preferences, and high-level objective from planning. Preserve unresolved risks and the plan path ${settings.planPath}. Remove implementation chatter. This summary is for a read-only supervisor that will judge and steer another Pi session.`,
-					onComplete: () => resolve(),
-					onError: reject,
-				});
-			});
 			await pairWithPiSupervise(pi, settings.workerIntercomId, settings.planPath);
 			pi.appendEntry(BOOTSTRAPPED, { version: 1, workerSessionId: settings.workerSessionId, planPath: settings.planPath });
+			pi.sendUserMessage("Supervision is paired. Inspect the worker and give its next concrete instruction.");
 		} catch (error) {
 			ctx.ui.notify(`Supervisor startup failed: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`, "error");
-		} finally {
-			compacting = false;
 		}
 	};
 
+	pi.on("session_start", async (_event, ctx) => {
+		setImmediate(() => { void bootstrap(ctx); });
+	});
+
+	pi.on("before_agent_start", async (_event, ctx) => {
+		return { systemPrompt: `${ctx.getSystemPrompt()}\n\n${supervisorPrompt(settings)}` };
+	});
+
 	pi.on("agent_settled", async (_event, ctx) => {
 		if (compacting || (ctx.getContextUsage()?.tokens ?? 0) < COMPACT_AT_TOKENS) return;
 		compacting = true;

test/herdr.test.ts

@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ describe("supervisor pane command", () => {
 		expect(command).toContain("'PI_GOALS_WORKER_INTERCOM_ID=intercom-12345678'");
 		expect(command).toContain("'pi' '--no-extensions' '-e' 'npm:pi-intercom' '-e' 'npm:@wassname2/pi-supervise@0.0.4' '-e' '/repo/src/index.ts'");
 		expect(command).toContain("'--fork' '/sessions/worker.jsonl'");
-		expect(command).toContain("'--model' 'provider/supervisor' 'Initialize supervision startup.'");
+		expect(command).toContain("'--model' 'provider/supervisor'");
+		expect(command).not.toContain("Initialize supervision startup.");
 		expect(command).not.toContain("pi-subagents");
 	});
 

test/supervisor-session.test.ts

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ function setup(cwd: string, planPath: string) {
 	const tools = new Map<string, any>();
 	const entries: any[] = [];
 	const paired: Array<{ workerIntercomId: string; goal: string }> = [];
+	const messages: string[] = [];
 	let branch: any[] = [];
 	const ctx = {
 		cwd,
@@ -42,34 +43,37 @@ function setup(cwd: string, planPath: string) {
 		on: (name: string, handler: any) => hooks.set(name, handler),
 		registerTool: (tool: any) => tools.set(tool.name, tool),
 		appendEntry: (customType: string, data: unknown) => entries.push({ type: "custom", customType, data }),
+		sendUserMessage: (message: string) => messages.push(message),
 	};
 	registerVisibleSupervisor(pi as unknown as ExtensionAPI);
-	return { branch: (value: any[]) => { branch = value; }, ctx, entries, hooks, paired, tools };
+	return { branch: (value: any[]) => { branch = value; }, ctx, entries, hooks, messages, paired, tools };
 }
 
 afterEach(() => vi.unstubAllEnvs());
 
 describe("visible supervisor session", () => {
-	it("compacts the fork before pairing it with the worker", async () => {
+	it("pairs from session startup before asking the supervisor to work", async () => {
 		const cwd = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "pi-goals-supervisor-"));
 		try {
 			const runtime = setup(cwd, join(cwd, ".pi/plan/worker-v1.md"));
-			await runtime.hooks.get("before_agent_start")({}, runtime.ctx);
-			expect(runtime.ctx.compact).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+			await runtime.hooks.get("session_start")({}, runtime.ctx);
+			await new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve));
+			expect(runtime.ctx.compact).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 			expect(runtime.entries.at(-1)).toMatchObject({ customType: "pi-goals-visible-supervisor-v1" });
 			expect(runtime.paired).toEqual([{ workerIntercomId: "worker-intercom", goal: join(cwd, ".pi/plan/worker-v1.md") }]);
+			expect(runtime.messages).toEqual(["Supervision is paired. Inspect the worker and give its next concrete instruction."]);
 		} finally {
 			rmSync(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });
 		}
 	});
 
-	it("does not pair twice when startup reaches a second worker turn", async () => {
+	it("does not pair twice across session startup and later turns", async () => {
 		const cwd = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "pi-goals-supervisor-"));
 		try {
 			const runtime = setup(cwd, join(cwd, ".pi/plan/worker-v1.md"));
+			await runtime.hooks.get("session_start")({}, runtime.ctx);
+			await new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve));
 			await runtime.hooks.get("before_agent_start")({}, runtime.ctx);
-			await runtime.hooks.get("before_agent_start")({}, runtime.ctx);
-			expect(runtime.ctx.compact).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
 			expect(runtime.paired).toHaveLength(1);
 		} finally {
 			rmSync(cwd, { recursive: true, force: true });