Context compaction verification and recovery

Context Compaction Verification & Recovery Protocol

When to Use

Use this protocol when:

1. You've issued multiple patch, write_file, or create_file calls in a session
2. Context compaction has occurred (handoff summary mentions "completed" work)
3. User reports "偏翼唔到出嚟" (page doesn't render / doesn't work)
4. You suspect some tool calls were "spoken but not executed" — written in responses but not actually made

Core Insight

Tool calls that exist only in your reply text but weren't actually invoked will NOT have modified any files. This is the most common failure mode during complex multi-step sessions across context compactions.

Pattern: AI describes what it will do in markdown text blocks, the user says "繼續", and in the next turn the AI treats that description as already done without having made the actual tool calls.

Warning Signs of Compaction-Induced Drift

These patterns strongly suggest patches never landed:

1. Deferred tool calls — you say "first I'll X, then Y" in prose, then move on without actually calling the tools
2. "As mentioned above" syndrome — you reference code that was typed in your response but never written to disk
3. Excessive prose descriptions of code — if you're describing implementation in detail rather than doing it, check if tools were actually called
4. User says it doesn't render after you think you've finished — this is the ultimate signal

Prevention: The "Did the tool fire?" Check

Before any "繼續" transition, mentally scan: for every file I claim to have modified, did I actually see a patch() or write_file() success response in my tool output? If you only remember typing it in prose, it didn't happen.

Step 1: Audit — File Existence Check

Before any repairs, run a comprehensive audit:

# Find all NEW files that should exist
# Check each one with ls or search_files

Key files to verify:

• New utility files (utils/*.js)
• New page directories (pages/*/)
• New component files

Step 2: Audit — Patch Verification by Keyword Scan

For each file that was supposed to be patched, scan for distinctive keywords that would only exist after the patch:

# For each patched file, check that NEW method names, variable names, 
# or import paths exist in the file content
checks = {
    "someFile.js": ["newFunctionName", "newImport", "newVariable"]
}
for fpath, keywords in checks.items():
    content = open(fpath).read()
    for kw in keywords:
        if kw not in content:
            print(f"MISSING: {fpath} — no '{kw}'")

Critical clue: If the file exists but has a smaller size than expected, or if multiple keywords are missing, the patches likely never executed.

Step 3: Analyze Root Cause

Common causes:

• Context compaction — handoff summary describes work as "done" but tool calls were in a different context and never executed
• Rate limiting / timeout — some tool calls in a batch silently failed
• Wrong file path — patch was applied to a non-existent path
• Middle-of-response tool call — tool call appeared mid-response, earlier compaction truncated it
• ⚠️ 流程規則消失（NEW — 2026-05-01 發現） — Context compaction 唔只導致 code 冇落地，仲會令 流程規則完全消失。最常見：HARD STOP RULES、REVIEW.md 優化授權、Task Size Pre-Judgment Protocol。原因係呢啲規則寫咗落檔案但冇用 memory tool save。Context compaction 後 memory 入面冇呢啲規則，Agent 會當 normal mode 開工，直接 skip boot sequence。

流程規則 Recovery（NEW）

當發現自己 skip 咗 boot sequence / HARD STOP / 其他流程規則：

1. 唔好繼續做 code work — 先修復流程
2. 用 memory tool 重新 save 所有流程規則
3. 行 boot.sh 確認狀態
4. 完成後先開始新 work

點樣預防流程規則消失

永遠用 memory tool 而非寫檔案嚟 save 流程規則。

• ❌ database/hermes_memory.json patch — context compaction 後唔會 inject
• ✅ memory(action='add', target='memory', ...) — context compaction 後自動 inject

檢查清單（每次 context compaction handoff 後問自己）：

• 我記唔記得 boot.sh 係開工第1句？
• 我記唔記得完成 task 要 update ROADMAP + STATE + git commit？
• 我記唔記得 REVIEW.md 優化授權？
• 我記唔記得 task size pre-judgment protocol？
• 以上規則係咪來自 memory tool？（唔係檔案）

Step 4: Recovery Strategy

Approach A — Independent Recovery (preferred)

1. Write a comprehensive plan (.hermes/plans/YYYY-MM-DD_*recovery*.md)
2. Include: what exists ✅, what's missing ❌, exact patch operations needed
3. Share plan with user for approval before executing
4. Execute in strict dependency order: new files first, then config changes (app.json), then patches to existing files
5. After every batch of 3-4 patches, do a focused syntax check — don't wait until the end to discover a mistake

Approach A.1 — Progressive Recovery (for 10+ missing items)

When the recovery plan has 10+ operations:

1. Split into phases (e.g., Phase 1: new files, Phase 2: patches, Phase 3: syntax check)
2. Within each phase, group by dependency (a file that other files import from must be created first)
3. After each phase, do a focused verification: "Phase 1: 5/5 files created" before moving on
4. Keep the todo list granular — one item per file or per logical group, not one "do everything" item

Approach A.1 — Progressive Recovery (new, for 10+ missing items)

When the recovery plan has 10+ operations:

1. Split into phases (e.g., Phase 1: new files, Phase 2: patches, Phase 3: syntax check)
2. Within each phase, group by dependency (a file that other files import from must be created first)
3. After each phase, do a focused verification: "Phase 1: 5/5 files created" before moving on
4. Keep the todo list granular — one item per file or per logical group, not one "do everything" item

Approach B — Clean Re-implementation (when patches are too numerous)

1. Identify which files need full rewrites vs targeted patches
2. For files with 80%+ changes: rewrite entirely
3. For files with <30% changes: patch the missing parts

Step 5: Verification After Recovery

After all patches are applied:

# 1. Syntax check all JS files
node -e "require('./utils/new-file')" 2>&1 | head -5

# 2. Check all require() paths resolve
# 3. Check all WXML has matching WXSS classes
# 4. Check app.json has all page paths

Step 6: DevTools Testing

For WeChat Mini Program specifically:

1. Clear DevTools cache: ~/Library/Application Support/微信开发者工具/<hash>/WeappCache/
2. Close DevTools completely
3. Reopen via open -a "wechatwebdevtools" /path/to/project
4. Cmd+R compile
5. Route to each new/modified page

Common Pitfalls

• "routeTo appLaunch timeout" is often a false positive cold-start latency, not a real error — clear WeappCache and retry before debugging
• Missing app.json page entry won't cause launch timeout, but will crash when navigating to that page
• WXML wx:if with undefined data field renders nothing (no crash, but empty screen)
• Mutual require cycles between utils/ files cause silent undefined exports
• The "false positive" trap — during audit, some keywords might already exist from earlier successful patches (recitation.js counter styles were already present even though I thought they were missing). Always verify by reading the actual file, not just keyword grepping.
• WXSS display: grid with 1fr units triggers Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'MaxCodeSize') in WeChat DevTools — use flexbox with calc(33.33% - gap) for 3-column layouts
• WXSS filter: drop-shadow() also triggers the same MaxCodeSize compile error — replace with box-shadow instead
• backdrop-filter in WXSS is another known DevTools WXSS compiler trigger — works in most files but can cause cascading compile failures when combined with other heavy CSS features

Audit Report Template

Use this after any "it doesn't work" report:

## Pre-Recovery Audit Results

### New Files Status
- [ ] utils/foo.js — EXISTS / MISSING
- [ ] pages/bar/bar.js — EXISTS / MISSING

### Patch Status
- [ ] file1.js — all 8 keywords present / N missing
- [ ] file2.js — all 5 keywords present / N missing

### Config Status
- [ ] app.json — all page paths registered
- [ ] project.config.json — valid

### DevTools Root Cause
- [ ] routeTo appLaunch timeout (likely cold-start latency)
- [ ] require() path mismatch at: _______
- [ ] Missing page config at: _______

Final Recovery Verification

After applying all recovery patches, run this comprehensive check:

1. Syntax check all modified/new JS files — node -c filename.js
2. Check all app.json pages exist — verify js/wxml/wxss triple exists for each
3. Keyword scan — re-run the audit against all expected keywords
4. DevTools cache clear — remove WeappCache/ and WeappLocalData/ directories
5. Reopen DevTools — open -a "wechatwebdevtools" /path/to/project

WXSS Compile Error Debugging

If DevTools shows "编译 .wxss 文件错误，错误信息如上" with Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'MaxCodeSize'):

1. Most likely cause: display: grid with 1fr units — replace with flexbox layout
2. Check for backdrop-filter usage in recently modified WXSS files
3. Check for unbalanced braces in WXSS files ({ vs } counts)
4. Check WXML for => arrow functions and ?. optional chaining — these WXML errors sometimes manifest as WXSS compile errors in DevTools! Always check WXML first before debugging WXSS.
5. After fixing, always clear WeappCache/ before recompiling — stale cache compounds WXSS errors
6. Keep WXSS files under ~15KB per file to avoid exceeding the compiler's code size limit

When to Write a Plan vs Just Fix

Scenario	Action
1-3 missing patches	Just fix, no plan needed
3-8 missing patches	Quick audit + execute
8+ missing patches or new files	Write plan first, get user OK
User reported "唔work"	Always audit first, then plan