From 873dbc4dfd1c35ee5c7142769fd4371db0e0f1e5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Andrii Furmanets <furmanets.andriy@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2026 16:22:37 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix(compaction): clarify skip reasons

---
 src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/compact.ts |  7 +++--
 src/auto-reply/reply/commands-compact.ts |  3 ++
 src/auto-reply/reply/commands.test.ts    | 39 ++++++++++++++++++++++--
 3 files changed, 44 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/compact.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/compact.ts
index 219ae9bc028..13cc4089703 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/compact.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/compact.ts
@@ -64,7 +64,10 @@ import {
   validateAnthropicTurns,
   validateGeminiTurns,
 } from "../pi-embedded-helpers.js";
-import { consumeCompactionSafeguardCancelReason } from "../pi-extensions/compaction-safeguard-runtime.js";
+import {
+  consumeCompactionSafeguardCancelReason,
+  setCompactionSafeguardCancelReason,
+} from "../pi-extensions/compaction-safeguard-runtime.js";
 import { createPreparedEmbeddedPiSettingsManager } from "../pi-project-settings.js";
 import { createOpenClawCodingTools } from "../pi-tools.js";
 import { ensureRuntimePluginsLoaded } from "../runtime-plugins.js";
@@ -1122,7 +1125,7 @@ export async function compactEmbeddedPiSessionDirect(
         }
         const result = await compactWithSafetyTimeout(
           () => {
-            consumeCompactionSafeguardCancelReason(compactionSessionManager);
+            setCompactionSafeguardCancelReason(compactionSessionManager, undefined);
             return session.compact(params.customInstructions);
           },
           compactionTimeoutMs,
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply/commands-compact.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply/commands-compact.ts
index 14ba1fe7a16..fa4ff3b313e 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply/commands-compact.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply/commands-compact.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,9 @@ function formatCompactionReason(reason?: string): string | undefined {
 
   const lower = text.toLowerCase();
   if (lower.includes("nothing to compact")) {
+    return "nothing compactable in this session yet";
+  }
+  if (lower.includes("below threshold")) {
     return "context is below the compaction threshold";
   }
   if (lower.includes("already compacted")) {
diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply/commands.test.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply/commands.test.ts
index e1399b19888..b65708cefaf 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply/commands.test.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply/commands.test.ts
@@ -627,7 +627,7 @@ describe("/compact command", () => {
     );
   });
 
-  it("labels benign no-op compaction results as skipped", async () => {
+  it("labels nothing-to-compact results as skipped without calling them below-threshold", async () => {
     const cfg = {
       commands: { text: true },
       channels: { whatsapp: { allowFrom: ["*"] } },
@@ -655,15 +655,48 @@ describe("/compact command", () => {
     expect(result).toEqual({
       shouldContinue: false,
       reply: {
-        text: "⚙️ Compaction skipped: context is below the compaction threshold • Context 31k/?",
+        text: "⚙️ Compaction skipped: nothing compactable in this session yet • Context 31k/?",
       },
     });
     expect(vi.mocked(enqueueSystemEvent)).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      "Compaction skipped: context is below the compaction threshold • Context 31k/?",
+      "Compaction skipped: nothing compactable in this session yet • Context 31k/?",
       { sessionKey: params.sessionKey },
     );
   });
 
+  it("formats below-threshold skip reasons with friendly copy", async () => {
+    const cfg = {
+      commands: { text: true },
+      channels: { whatsapp: { allowFrom: ["*"] } },
+    } as OpenClawConfig;
+    const params = buildParams("/compact", cfg);
+    vi.mocked(compactEmbeddedPiSession).mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      ok: false,
+      compacted: false,
+      reason: "Compaction skipped: below threshold for manual compaction",
+    });
+
+    const result = await handleCompactCommand(
+      {
+        ...params,
+        sessionEntry: {
+          sessionId: "session-1",
+          updatedAt: Date.now(),
+          totalTokens: 31_000,
+          contextTokens: 200_000,
+        },
+      },
+      true,
+    );
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({
+      shouldContinue: false,
+      reply: {
+        text: "⚙️ Compaction skipped: context is below the compaction threshold • Context 31k/?",
+      },
+    });
+  });
+
   it("keeps true compaction errors labeled as failures", async () => {
     const cfg = {
       commands: { text: true },