agents: reduce prompt token bloat from exec and context

src/agents/bash-tools.e2e.test.ts

@@ -221,6 +221,28 @@ describe("exec tool backgrounding", () => {
     expect(status).toBe("completed");
   });
 
+  it("defaults process log to a bounded tail when no window is provided", async () => {
+    const lines = Array.from({ length: 260 }, (_value, index) => `line-${index + 1}`);
+    const result = await execTool.execute("call1", {
+      command: echoLines(lines),
+      background: true,
+    });
+    const sessionId = (result.details as { sessionId: string }).sessionId;
+    await waitForCompletion(sessionId);
+
+    const log = await processTool.execute("call2", {
+      action: "log",
+      sessionId,
+    });
+    const textBlock = log.content.find((c) => c.type === "text")?.text ?? "";
+    const firstLine = textBlock.split("\n")[0]?.trim();
+    expect(textBlock).toContain("showing last 200 of 260 lines");
+    expect(firstLine).toBe("line-61");
+    expect(textBlock).toContain("line-61");
+    expect(textBlock).toContain("line-260");
+    expect((log.details as { totalLines?: number }).totalLines).toBe(260);
+  });
+
   it("supports line offsets for log slices", async () => {
     const result = await execTool.execute("call1", {
       command: echoLines(["alpha", "beta", "gamma"]),
@@ -300,6 +322,26 @@ describe("exec notifyOnExit", () => {
     expect(finished).toBeTruthy();
     expect(hasEvent).toBe(true);
   });
+
+  it("skips no-op completion events when command succeeds without output", async () => {
+    const tool = createExecTool({
+      allowBackground: true,
+      backgroundMs: 0,
+      notifyOnExit: true,
+      sessionKey: "agent:main:main",
+    });
+
+    const result = await tool.execute("call2", {
+      command: shortDelayCmd,
+      background: true,
+    });
+
+    expect(result.details.status).toBe("running");
+    const sessionId = (result.details as { sessionId: string }).sessionId;
+    const status = await waitForCompletion(sessionId);
+    expect(status).toBe("completed");
+    expect(peekSystemEvents("agent:main:main")).toEqual([]);
+  });
 });
 
 describe("exec PATH handling", () => {

src/agents/bash-tools.exec-runtime.ts

@@ -84,13 +84,14 @@ export const DEFAULT_MAX_OUTPUT = clampWithDefault(
 );
 export const DEFAULT_PENDING_MAX_OUTPUT = clampWithDefault(
   readEnvInt("OPENCLAW_BASH_PENDING_MAX_OUTPUT_CHARS"),
-  200_000,
+  30_000,
   1_000,
   200_000,
 );
 export const DEFAULT_PATH =
   process.env.PATH ?? "/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin";
 export const DEFAULT_NOTIFY_TAIL_CHARS = 400;
+const DEFAULT_NOTIFY_SNIPPET_CHARS = 180;
 export const DEFAULT_APPROVAL_TIMEOUT_MS = 120_000;
 export const DEFAULT_APPROVAL_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS = 130_000;
 const DEFAULT_APPROVAL_RUNNING_NOTICE_MS = 10_000;
@@ -214,6 +215,18 @@ export function normalizeNotifyOutput(value: string) {
   return value.replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
 }
 
+function compactNotifyOutput(value: string, maxChars = DEFAULT_NOTIFY_SNIPPET_CHARS) {
+  const normalized = normalizeNotifyOutput(value);
+  if (!normalized) {
+    return "";
+  }
+  if (normalized.length <= maxChars) {
+    return normalized;
+  }
+  const safe = Math.max(1, maxChars - 1);
+  return `${normalized.slice(0, safe)}…`;
+}
+
 export function normalizePathPrepend(entries?: string[]) {
   if (!Array.isArray(entries)) {
     return [];
@@ -300,9 +313,12 @@ function maybeNotifyOnExit(session: ProcessSession, status: "completed" | "faile
   const exitLabel = session.exitSignal
     ? `signal ${session.exitSignal}`
     : `code ${session.exitCode ?? 0}`;
-  const output = normalizeNotifyOutput(
+  const output = compactNotifyOutput(
     tail(session.tail || session.aggregated || "", DEFAULT_NOTIFY_TAIL_CHARS),
   );
+  if (status === "completed" && !output) {
+    return;
+  }
   const summary = output
     ? `Exec ${status} (${session.id.slice(0, 8)}, ${exitLabel}) :: ${output}`
     : `Exec ${status} (${session.id.slice(0, 8)}, ${exitLabel})`;

src/agents/bash-tools.process.ts

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ type WritableStdin = {
   end: () => void;
   destroyed?: boolean;
 };
+const DEFAULT_LOG_TAIL_LINES = 200;
 
 const processSchema = Type.Object({
   action: Type.String({ description: "Process action" }),
@@ -294,13 +295,23 @@ export function createProcessTool(
                 details: { status: "failed" },
               };
             }
+            const effectiveOffset = params.offset;
+            const effectiveLimit =
+              typeof params.limit === "number" && Number.isFinite(params.limit)
+                ? params.limit
+                : DEFAULT_LOG_TAIL_LINES;
             const { slice, totalLines, totalChars } = sliceLogLines(
               scopedSession.aggregated,
-              params.offset,
-              params.limit,
+              effectiveOffset,
+              effectiveLimit,
             );
+            const usingDefaultTail = params.offset === undefined && params.limit === undefined;
+            const defaultTailNote =
+              usingDefaultTail && totalLines > DEFAULT_LOG_TAIL_LINES
+                ? `\n\n[showing last ${DEFAULT_LOG_TAIL_LINES} of ${totalLines} lines; pass offset/limit to page]`
+                : "";
             return {
-              content: [{ type: "text", text: slice || "(no output yet)" }],
+              content: [{ type: "text", text: (slice || "(no output yet)") + defaultTailNote }],
               details: {
                 status: scopedSession.exited ? "completed" : "running",
                 sessionId: params.sessionId,
@@ -313,14 +324,26 @@ export function createProcessTool(
             };
           }
           if (scopedFinished) {
+            const effectiveOffset = params.offset;
+            const effectiveLimit =
+              typeof params.limit === "number" && Number.isFinite(params.limit)
+                ? params.limit
+                : DEFAULT_LOG_TAIL_LINES;
             const { slice, totalLines, totalChars } = sliceLogLines(
               scopedFinished.aggregated,
-              params.offset,
-              params.limit,
+              effectiveOffset,
+              effectiveLimit,
             );
             const status = scopedFinished.status === "completed" ? "completed" : "failed";
+            const usingDefaultTail = params.offset === undefined && params.limit === undefined;
+            const defaultTailNote =
+              usingDefaultTail && totalLines > DEFAULT_LOG_TAIL_LINES
+                ? `\n\n[showing last ${DEFAULT_LOG_TAIL_LINES} of ${totalLines} lines; pass offset/limit to page]`
+                : "";
             return {
-              content: [{ type: "text", text: slice || "(no output recorded)" }],
+              content: [
+                { type: "text", text: (slice || "(no output recorded)") + defaultTailNote },
+              ],
               details: {
                 status,
                 sessionId: params.sessionId,

src/agents/pi-embedded-helpers.buildbootstrapcontextfiles.e2e.test.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { buildBootstrapContextFiles, DEFAULT_BOOTSTRAP_MAX_CHARS } from "./pi-embedded-helpers.js";
+import {
+  buildBootstrapContextFiles,
+  DEFAULT_BOOTSTRAP_MAX_CHARS,
+  DEFAULT_BOOTSTRAP_TOTAL_MAX_CHARS,
+} from "./pi-embedded-helpers.js";
 import { DEFAULT_AGENTS_FILENAME } from "./workspace.js";
 
 const makeFile = (overrides: Partial<WorkspaceBootstrapFile>): WorkspaceBootstrapFile => ({
@@ -50,4 +54,17 @@ describe("buildBootstrapContextFiles", () => {
     expect(result?.content).toBe(long);
     expect(result?.content).not.toContain("[...truncated, read AGENTS.md for full content...]");
   });
+
+  it("caps total injected bootstrap characters across files", () => {
+    const files = [
+      makeFile({ name: "AGENTS.md", content: "a".repeat(10_000) }),
+      makeFile({ name: "SOUL.md", path: "/tmp/SOUL.md", content: "b".repeat(10_000) }),
+      makeFile({ name: "USER.md", path: "/tmp/USER.md", content: "c".repeat(10_000) }),
+    ];
+    const result = buildBootstrapContextFiles(files);
+    const totalChars = result.reduce((sum, entry) => sum + entry.content.length, 0);
+    expect(totalChars).toBeLessThanOrEqual(DEFAULT_BOOTSTRAP_TOTAL_MAX_CHARS);
+    expect(result).toHaveLength(3);
+    expect(result[2]?.content).toContain("[...truncated, read USER.md for full content...]");
+  });
 });

src/agents/pi-embedded-helpers.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 export {
   buildBootstrapContextFiles,
   DEFAULT_BOOTSTRAP_MAX_CHARS,
+  DEFAULT_BOOTSTRAP_TOTAL_MAX_CHARS,
   ensureSessionHeader,
   resolveBootstrapMaxChars,
   stripThoughtSignatures,

src/agents/pi-embedded-helpers/bootstrap.ts

@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ export function stripThoughtSignatures<T>(
 }
 
 export const DEFAULT_BOOTSTRAP_MAX_CHARS = 20_000;
+export const DEFAULT_BOOTSTRAP_TOTAL_MAX_CHARS = 24_000;
 const BOOTSTRAP_HEAD_RATIO = 0.7;
 const BOOTSTRAP_TAIL_RATIO = 0.2;
 
@@ -161,11 +162,19 @@ export async function ensureSessionHeader(params: {
 
 export function buildBootstrapContextFiles(
   files: WorkspaceBootstrapFile[],
-  opts?: { warn?: (message: string) => void; maxChars?: number },
+  opts?: { warn?: (message: string) => void; maxChars?: number; totalMaxChars?: number },
 ): EmbeddedContextFile[] {
   const maxChars = opts?.maxChars ?? DEFAULT_BOOTSTRAP_MAX_CHARS;
+  const totalMaxChars = Math.max(
+    1,
+    Math.floor(opts?.totalMaxChars ?? Math.max(maxChars, DEFAULT_BOOTSTRAP_TOTAL_MAX_CHARS)),
+  );
+  let remainingTotalChars = totalMaxChars;
   const result: EmbeddedContextFile[] = [];
   for (const file of files) {
+    if (remainingTotalChars <= 0) {
+      break;
+    }
     if (file.missing) {
       result.push({
         path: file.path,
@@ -173,7 +182,8 @@ export function buildBootstrapContextFiles(
       });
       continue;
     }
-    const trimmed = trimBootstrapContent(file.content ?? "", file.name, maxChars);
+    const fileMaxChars = Math.max(1, Math.min(maxChars, remainingTotalChars));
+    const trimmed = trimBootstrapContent(file.content ?? "", file.name, fileMaxChars);
     if (!trimmed.content) {
       continue;
     }
@@ -182,6 +192,7 @@ export function buildBootstrapContextFiles(
         `workspace bootstrap file ${file.name} is ${trimmed.originalLength} chars (limit ${trimmed.maxChars}); truncating in injected context`,
       );
     }
+    remainingTotalChars = Math.max(0, remainingTotalChars - trimmed.content.length);
     result.push({
       path: file.path,
       content: trimmed.content,

src/gateway/server-node-events.test.ts

@@ -83,6 +83,42 @@ describe("node exec events", () => {
     expect(requestHeartbeatNowMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ reason: "exec-event" });
   });
 
+  it("suppresses noisy exec.finished success events with empty output", async () => {
+    const ctx = buildCtx();
+    await handleNodeEvent(ctx, "node-2", {
+      event: "exec.finished",
+      payloadJSON: JSON.stringify({
+        runId: "run-quiet",
+        exitCode: 0,
+        timedOut: false,
+        output: "   ",
+      }),
+    });
+
+    expect(enqueueSystemEventMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(requestHeartbeatNowMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("truncates long exec.finished output in system events", async () => {
+    const ctx = buildCtx();
+    await handleNodeEvent(ctx, "node-2", {
+      event: "exec.finished",
+      payloadJSON: JSON.stringify({
+        runId: "run-long",
+        exitCode: 0,
+        timedOut: false,
+        output: "x".repeat(600),
+      }),
+    });
+
+    const [[text]] = enqueueSystemEventMock.mock.calls;
+    expect(typeof text).toBe("string");
+    expect(text.startsWith("Exec finished (node=node-2 id=run-long, code 0)\n")).toBe(true);
+    expect(text.endsWith("…")).toBe(true);
+    expect(text.length).toBeLessThan(280);
+    expect(requestHeartbeatNowMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ reason: "exec-event" });
+  });
+
   it("enqueues exec.denied events with reason", async () => {
     const ctx = buildCtx();
     await handleNodeEvent(ctx, "node-3", {

src/gateway/server-node-events.ts

@@ -15,6 +15,20 @@ import {
 } from "./session-utils.js";
 import { formatForLog } from "./ws-log.js";
 
+const MAX_EXEC_EVENT_OUTPUT_CHARS = 180;
+
+function compactExecEventOutput(raw: string) {
+  const normalized = raw.replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
+  if (!normalized) {
+    return "";
+  }
+  if (normalized.length <= MAX_EXEC_EVENT_OUTPUT_CHARS) {
+    return normalized;
+  }
+  const safe = Math.max(1, MAX_EXEC_EVENT_OUTPUT_CHARS - 1);
+  return `${normalized.slice(0, safe)}…`;
+}
+
 export const handleNodeEvent = async (ctx: NodeEventContext, nodeId: string, evt: NodeEvent) => {
   switch (evt.event) {
     case "voice.transcript": {
@@ -244,9 +258,14 @@ export const handleNodeEvent = async (ctx: NodeEventContext, nodeId: string, evt
         }
       } else if (evt.event === "exec.finished") {
         const exitLabel = timedOut ? "timeout" : `code ${exitCode ?? "?"}`;
+        const compactOutput = compactExecEventOutput(output);
+        const shouldNotify = timedOut || exitCode !== 0 || compactOutput.length > 0;
+        if (!shouldNotify) {
+          return;
+        }
         text = `Exec finished (node=${nodeId}${runId ? ` id=${runId}` : ""}, ${exitLabel})`;
-        if (output) {
-          text += `\n${output}`;
+        if (compactOutput) {
+          text += `\n${compactOutput}`;
         }
       } else {
         text = `Exec denied (node=${nodeId}${runId ? ` id=${runId}` : ""}${reason ? `, ${reason}` : ""})`;