feat(agent): per-turn file-mutation verifier footer#24498
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Detect when write_file / patch calls fail during a turn and are never superseded by a successful write to the same path. When the final text response is delivered, append an advisory footer listing the files that did NOT change — so models that over-claim 'patched 5 files' after 4 silent failures can't hide the lie. Catches the failure mode reported in Ben Eng's llm-wiki session: grok-4.1-fast issued batches of parallel patches, half failed with 'Could not find old_string', and the agent summarised the turn claiming every file was edited. The user had to manually run 'git status' each turn to catch it. The verifier is a pure post-hoc check on tool results — no new LLM calls, no synthetic messages injected into history (prompt cache preserved), no changes to tool argument dispatch. Per-turn state is keyed by path; a later successful write to the same path clears the failure entry so single-file retry recovery is not flagged. Wired into both _execute_tool_calls_concurrent and _execute_tool_calls_sequential, so batched parallel patches and one-at- a-time edits are both covered. Footer emission happens after the agent loop exits, before transform_llm_output / post_llm_call plugin hooks run, so plugins still see (and can modify) the augmented text. Config: display.file_mutation_verifier (bool, default true) + HERMES_FILE_MUTATION_VERIFIER env override. 31 unit tests in tests/run_agent/test_file_mutation_verifier.py cover target extraction (write_file, patch-replace, patch-v4a single and multi-file), error-preview extraction (JSON .error field and plain string), per-turn state transitions (first-error-wins on repeated failure, success supersedes failure), footer rendering (truncation at 10 entries, user-actionable hint), and env/config precedence. Companion docs updated: user-guide/configuration.md + reference/environment-variables.md.
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🔎 Lint report:
|
| Rule | Count |
|---|---|
invalid-argument-type |
3 |
unresolved-import |
1 |
unresolved-attribute |
1 |
First entries
run_agent.py:13733: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `_is_oauth_token` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | Any | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:13736: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `len` is incorrect: Expected `Sized`, found `(str & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (dict[Unknown, Unknown] & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (Any & ~AlwaysFalsy) | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:7480: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `build_anthropic_client` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | dict[Unknown, Unknown] | Any | ... omitted 3 union elements`
tests/run_agent/test_file_mutation_verifier.py:24: [unresolved-import] unresolved-import: Cannot resolve imported module `pytest`
run_agent.py:15528: [unresolved-attribute] unresolved-attribute: Attribute `rstrip` is not defined on `None` in union `None | str | Unknown`
✅ Fixed issues (3):
| Rule | Count |
|---|---|
invalid-argument-type |
3 |
First entries
run_agent.py:13539: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `_is_oauth_token` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | Any | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:13542: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `len` is incorrect: Expected `Sized`, found `(str & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] & ~AlwaysFalsy) | (Any & ~AlwaysFalsy) | ... omitted 3 union elements`
run_agent.py:7317: [invalid-argument-type] invalid-argument-type: Argument to function `build_anthropic_client` is incorrect: Expected `str`, found `str | dict[Unknown | str, Unknown | str | dict[str, str]] | Any | ... omitted 3 union elements`
Unchanged: 4306 pre-existing issues carried over.
Diagnostics are surfaced as warnings — this check never fails the build.
jsboige
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May 14, 2026
Detect when write_file / patch calls fail during a turn and are never superseded by a successful write to the same path. When the final text response is delivered, append an advisory footer listing the files that did NOT change — so models that over-claim 'patched 5 files' after 4 silent failures can't hide the lie. Catches the failure mode reported in Ben Eng's llm-wiki session: grok-4.1-fast issued batches of parallel patches, half failed with 'Could not find old_string', and the agent summarised the turn claiming every file was edited. The user had to manually run 'git status' each turn to catch it. The verifier is a pure post-hoc check on tool results — no new LLM calls, no synthetic messages injected into history (prompt cache preserved), no changes to tool argument dispatch. Per-turn state is keyed by path; a later successful write to the same path clears the failure entry so single-file retry recovery is not flagged. Wired into both _execute_tool_calls_concurrent and _execute_tool_calls_sequential, so batched parallel patches and one-at- a-time edits are both covered. Footer emission happens after the agent loop exits, before transform_llm_output / post_llm_call plugin hooks run, so plugins still see (and can modify) the augmented text. Config: display.file_mutation_verifier (bool, default true) + HERMES_FILE_MUTATION_VERIFIER env override. 31 unit tests in tests/run_agent/test_file_mutation_verifier.py cover target extraction (write_file, patch-replace, patch-v4a single and multi-file), error-preview extraction (JSON .error field and plain string), per-turn state transitions (first-error-wins on repeated failure, success supersedes failure), footer rendering (truncation at 10 entries, user-actionable hint), and env/config precedence. Companion docs updated: user-guide/configuration.md + reference/environment-variables.md.
NelsonLongxiang
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May 14, 2026
Detect when write_file / patch calls fail during a turn and are never superseded by a successful write to the same path. When the final text response is delivered, append an advisory footer listing the files that did NOT change — so models that over-claim 'patched 5 files' after 4 silent failures can't hide the lie. Catches the failure mode reported in Ben Eng's llm-wiki session: grok-4.1-fast issued batches of parallel patches, half failed with 'Could not find old_string', and the agent summarised the turn claiming every file was edited. The user had to manually run 'git status' each turn to catch it. The verifier is a pure post-hoc check on tool results — no new LLM calls, no synthetic messages injected into history (prompt cache preserved), no changes to tool argument dispatch. Per-turn state is keyed by path; a later successful write to the same path clears the failure entry so single-file retry recovery is not flagged. Wired into both _execute_tool_calls_concurrent and _execute_tool_calls_sequential, so batched parallel patches and one-at- a-time edits are both covered. Footer emission happens after the agent loop exits, before transform_llm_output / post_llm_call plugin hooks run, so plugins still see (and can modify) the augmented text. Config: display.file_mutation_verifier (bool, default true) + HERMES_FILE_MUTATION_VERIFIER env override. 31 unit tests in tests/run_agent/test_file_mutation_verifier.py cover target extraction (write_file, patch-replace, patch-v4a single and multi-file), error-preview extraction (JSON .error field and plain string), per-turn state transitions (first-error-wins on repeated failure, success supersedes failure), footer rendering (truncation at 10 entries, user-actionable hint), and env/config precedence. Companion docs updated: user-guide/configuration.md + reference/environment-variables.md.
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AlexFoxD
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May 21, 2026
Detect when write_file / patch calls fail during a turn and are never superseded by a successful write to the same path. When the final text response is delivered, append an advisory footer listing the files that did NOT change — so models that over-claim 'patched 5 files' after 4 silent failures can't hide the lie. Catches the failure mode reported in Ben Eng's llm-wiki session: grok-4.1-fast issued batches of parallel patches, half failed with 'Could not find old_string', and the agent summarised the turn claiming every file was edited. The user had to manually run 'git status' each turn to catch it. The verifier is a pure post-hoc check on tool results — no new LLM calls, no synthetic messages injected into history (prompt cache preserved), no changes to tool argument dispatch. Per-turn state is keyed by path; a later successful write to the same path clears the failure entry so single-file retry recovery is not flagged. Wired into both _execute_tool_calls_concurrent and _execute_tool_calls_sequential, so batched parallel patches and one-at- a-time edits are both covered. Footer emission happens after the agent loop exits, before transform_llm_output / post_llm_call plugin hooks run, so plugins still see (and can modify) the augmented text. Config: display.file_mutation_verifier (bool, default true) + HERMES_FILE_MUTATION_VERIFIER env override. 31 unit tests in tests/run_agent/test_file_mutation_verifier.py cover target extraction (write_file, patch-replace, patch-v4a single and multi-file), error-preview extraction (JSON .error field and plain string), per-turn state transitions (first-error-wins on repeated failure, success supersedes failure), footer rendering (truncation at 10 entries, user-actionable hint), and env/config precedence. Companion docs updated: user-guide/configuration.md + reference/environment-variables.md.
gweeteve
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Jun 2, 2026
Detect when write_file / patch calls fail during a turn and are never superseded by a successful write to the same path. When the final text response is delivered, append an advisory footer listing the files that did NOT change — so models that over-claim 'patched 5 files' after 4 silent failures can't hide the lie. Catches the failure mode reported in Ben Eng's llm-wiki session: grok-4.1-fast issued batches of parallel patches, half failed with 'Could not find old_string', and the agent summarised the turn claiming every file was edited. The user had to manually run 'git status' each turn to catch it. The verifier is a pure post-hoc check on tool results — no new LLM calls, no synthetic messages injected into history (prompt cache preserved), no changes to tool argument dispatch. Per-turn state is keyed by path; a later successful write to the same path clears the failure entry so single-file retry recovery is not flagged. Wired into both _execute_tool_calls_concurrent and _execute_tool_calls_sequential, so batched parallel patches and one-at- a-time edits are both covered. Footer emission happens after the agent loop exits, before transform_llm_output / post_llm_call plugin hooks run, so plugins still see (and can modify) the augmented text. Config: display.file_mutation_verifier (bool, default true) + HERMES_FILE_MUTATION_VERIFIER env override. 31 unit tests in tests/run_agent/test_file_mutation_verifier.py cover target extraction (write_file, patch-replace, patch-v4a single and multi-file), error-preview extraction (JSON .error field and plain string), per-turn state transitions (first-error-wins on repeated failure, success supersedes failure), footer rendering (truncation at 10 entries, user-actionable hint), and env/config precedence. Companion docs updated: user-guide/configuration.md + reference/environment-variables.md.
Seven74AI
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Jun 13, 2026
Detect when write_file / patch calls fail during a turn and are never superseded by a successful write to the same path. When the final text response is delivered, append an advisory footer listing the files that did NOT change — so models that over-claim 'patched 5 files' after 4 silent failures can't hide the lie. Catches the failure mode reported in Ben Eng's llm-wiki session: grok-4.1-fast issued batches of parallel patches, half failed with 'Could not find old_string', and the agent summarised the turn claiming every file was edited. The user had to manually run 'git status' each turn to catch it. The verifier is a pure post-hoc check on tool results — no new LLM calls, no synthetic messages injected into history (prompt cache preserved), no changes to tool argument dispatch. Per-turn state is keyed by path; a later successful write to the same path clears the failure entry so single-file retry recovery is not flagged. Wired into both _execute_tool_calls_concurrent and _execute_tool_calls_sequential, so batched parallel patches and one-at- a-time edits are both covered. Footer emission happens after the agent loop exits, before transform_llm_output / post_llm_call plugin hooks run, so plugins still see (and can modify) the augmented text. Config: display.file_mutation_verifier (bool, default true) + HERMES_FILE_MUTATION_VERIFIER env override. 31 unit tests in tests/run_agent/test_file_mutation_verifier.py cover target extraction (write_file, patch-replace, patch-v4a single and multi-file), error-preview extraction (JSON .error field and plain string), per-turn state transitions (first-error-wins on repeated failure, success supersedes failure), footer rendering (truncation at 10 entries, user-actionable hint), and env/config precedence. Companion docs updated: user-guide/configuration.md + reference/environment-variables.md.
alt-glitch
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that referenced
this pull request
Jun 14, 2026
Detect when write_file / patch calls fail during a turn and are never superseded by a successful write to the same path. When the final text response is delivered, append an advisory footer listing the files that did NOT change — so models that over-claim 'patched 5 files' after 4 silent failures can't hide the lie. Catches the failure mode reported in Ben Eng's llm-wiki session: grok-4.1-fast issued batches of parallel patches, half failed with 'Could not find old_string', and the agent summarised the turn claiming every file was edited. The user had to manually run 'git status' each turn to catch it. The verifier is a pure post-hoc check on tool results — no new LLM calls, no synthetic messages injected into history (prompt cache preserved), no changes to tool argument dispatch. Per-turn state is keyed by path; a later successful write to the same path clears the failure entry so single-file retry recovery is not flagged. Wired into both _execute_tool_calls_concurrent and _execute_tool_calls_sequential, so batched parallel patches and one-at- a-time edits are both covered. Footer emission happens after the agent loop exits, before transform_llm_output / post_llm_call plugin hooks run, so plugins still see (and can modify) the augmented text. Config: display.file_mutation_verifier (bool, default true) + HERMES_FILE_MUTATION_VERIFIER env override. 31 unit tests in tests/run_agent/test_file_mutation_verifier.py cover target extraction (write_file, patch-replace, patch-v4a single and multi-file), error-preview extraction (JSON .error field and plain string), per-turn state transitions (first-error-wins on repeated failure, success supersedes failure), footer rendering (truncation at 10 entries, user-actionable hint), and env/config precedence. Companion docs updated: user-guide/configuration.md + reference/environment-variables.md.
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Models can no longer silently over-claim file edits — every turn ends with an advisory footer listing any
write_file/patchfailures that were never superseded by a successful write to the same path.Resurrected from #22149 (which sat stale because its Layer 1 commit — @briandevans's schema-description fix from #15673 — was independently salvaged and merged as 3adcc64 on Apr 25). This PR is just the substantive Layer 2 commit (verifier), rebuilt onto current main.
What it does
Detects when
write_file/patchcalls fail during a turn and surfaces them in a footer appended to the assistant's final response:```
⚠️ File-mutation verifier: 3 file(s) were NOT modified this turn despite any wording above that may suggest otherwise. Run `git status` or `read_file` to confirm.
• concepts/automatic-organization.md — [patch] Could not find match for old_string
• concepts/lora.md — [patch] Could not find match for old_string
• concepts/rag-pipeline.md — [patch] Could not find match for old_string
```
Regression target: Ben Eng's llm-wiki session where grok-4.1-fast batched parallel patches, half failed with "Could not find old_string", and the model summarised the turn claiming every file was edited — forcing the user to manually run `git status` every turn.
Changes
Validation
Notes
Closes #15524. Supersedes #22149 (will close that PR pointing here).