fix(roo): add anti-loop guardrails to prevent autonomous session resumption

- Add Rule 9 (Anti-Loop Guardrail) to 01-bigmind-core.md: detect 2+ identical
  partial sessions and surface the loop to user instead of auto-resuming
- Add partial=history clause to Rule 1: partial/blocked/abandoned outcomes are
  historical records only, never task queue items
- Add focus guard to memory_announce_focus: must reflect current user message,
  not prior session outcome; use 'Awaiting user task assignment' if no task yet
- Add .roo/rules/06-anti-loop.md: global injection for ALL modes overriding
  any mode-specific 'do the task immediately' behavior
- Add mode interaction safety clause to 00-identity.md: session ritual does not
  authorize beginning any task — only explicit user message does

Root cause: pic-gen 'do the task' personality + BigMind context inference
produced 6 identical partial branding sessions in a loop.
This commit is contained in:
Patrick Plate
2026-04-10 23:27:32 +02:00
parent 1d1e70776f
commit 9453aecf0b
4 changed files with 250 additions and 3 deletions
+33 -2
View File
@@ -4,11 +4,18 @@
Every new session must begin with the following sequence executed in strict order before any other work is performed:
1. `memory_start_session()` — Open a new session and load all prior context, including user preferences, active projects, and recent decisions.
2. `memory_list_hypotheses()` — Review all open hypotheses from previous sessions. Assess whether any have become stale, require updated confidence scores, or can be immediately resolved based on new information.
3. `memory_announce_focus()` — Declare the explicit focus of this session, including the task objective, all files expected to be read or modified, the working branch if applicable, and the IDE environment (ide_hint="VS Code" or ide_hint="IntelliJ" as appropriate).
3. `memory_announce_focus()` — Declare the explicit focus of this session, including the task objective, all files expected to be read or modified, the working branch if applicable, and the IDE environment (ide_hint="VS Code" or ide_hint="IntelliJ" as appropriate). **The focus MUST reflect the current session's task as stated by the user's first message. If the user has not yet given a task at the time of calling, use `"Awaiting user task assignment"` as the description. Never derive focus from a prior session's partial/blocked/abandoned outcome.**
4. `memory_close_stale_sessions()` — Identify and close any orphaned sessions left behind by crashed or terminated IDE instances. A session is considered stale if it has had no activity for more than 2 hours and no corresponding active IDE is detected.
Do not skip any step. Do not reorder. If any call fails, retry once before proceeding with a logged warning.
> **⚠️ CRITICAL — Partial Sessions Are History, Not a Task Queue:**
> Sessions closed with `partial`, `blocked`, or `abandoned` outcomes are **historical records only**.
> They do NOT constitute pending obligations, resumption requests, or open tasks.
> A new session begins fresh. The **only** source of the current session's task is what the user
> writes in their **first message of this conversation** — never the outcome of a prior session.
> Reading prior context is for awareness only — it does NOT authorize beginning any prior task.
## Rule 2: Session End Ritual (Always Last Action — No Exceptions)
Every session must conclude with:
`memory_end_session()` — Close the session with all of the following fields populated:
@@ -60,4 +67,28 @@ Multiple IDEs and sessions may be active simultaneously. Treat this as a concurr
## Rule 8: Consistency and Self-Correction
- If at any point during a session you realize a rule was skipped or partially followed, immediately remediate by executing the missed step and logging the correction.
- Periodically during long sessions (approximately every 10 substantive exchanges), perform a lightweight self-audit: verify the session is still focused on the announced objective, check for unflagged important exchanges, and update any hypothesis confidence scores that may have shifted.
- If the user provides information that contradicts a stored fact, update the fact immediately and log the change with the old value, new value, and reason for the update.
- If the user provides information that contradicts a stored fact, update the fact immediately and log the change with the old value, new value, and reason for the update.
## Rule 9: Detect and Break Session Loops Before They Start
A **session loop** occurs when multiple consecutive sessions share near-identical headlines, topics,
and `partial`/`blocked`/`abandoned` outcomes — indicating the same task failed to complete repeatedly
without user re-authorization.
**Detection:** If `memory_start_session()` context shows **2 or more** recently closed sessions with:
- Substantially similar headlines or topics, **AND**
- `partial`, `blocked`, or `abandoned` outcome
**Required Response — Break the loop immediately:**
1. Do NOT attempt to resume or retry the repeated task silently
2. Inform the user: "I noticed the last N sessions all attempted [task] and ended partial. I won't auto-resume that. What would you like to do?"
3. Summarize what context/progress was accumulated across those sessions
4. Wait for an explicit user instruction before doing anything
**Explicit resumption:** If the user's first message in this conversation explicitly asks to continue
or retry the previous task, that is a valid instruction — proceed normally. The rule only prevents
**silent autonomous resumption** based on context alone.
**Mode interaction:** This rule applies regardless of mode. Even if a mode's rules say "do the task
immediately," prior session context alone is never sufficient authorization. Only the user's live
message in this conversation authorizes action.