Summary

post-compaction-audit.ts currently hardcodes default required reads to:

const DEFAULT_REQUIRED_READS = [
  "WORKFLOW_AUTO.md",
  /memory\/\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}\.md/,
];

In real deployments, many workspaces do not have WORKFLOW_AUTO.md. This produces repeated post-compaction warnings about missing startup files and appears to correlate with unexpected session handoffs/new-session creation during heartbeat windows.

What we observed

• Repeated warning text after compaction:
  • missing WORKFLOW_AUTO.md
  • missing memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md regex match when daily file didn't exist yet
• Repeated read ENOENT errors in gateway logs for WORKFLOW_AUTO.md.
• Overnight heartbeat/session churn around those warning windows.

Why this is problematic

• WORKFLOW_AUTO.md is treated like a required sentinel but is undocumented and absent by default in many user workspaces.
• Required-read checks are strict-equality path checks; missing file can create persistent warning loops.
• This can be interpreted by users as agent/session instability even if core runtime is healthy.

Proposed fix

1. Do not hardcode WORKFLOW_AUTO.md as required by default.
   • Make it optional, or
   • Gate it behind existence check (if file exists in workspace, then require read), or
   • Move required-read list fully to config with safe defaults.
2. Keep daily-memory regex check but consider allowing a grace window if today's file doesn't exist yet.
3. Improve audit messaging to distinguish:
   • "required file missing from workspace" vs
   • "required file exists but wasn't read"

Suggested acceptance criteria

• Fresh workspace with no WORKFLOW_AUTO.md does not trigger perpetual post-compaction missing-file warnings.
• Post-compaction audit only requires files that exist or are explicitly configured.
• No repeated ENOENT spam for audit-required files that are absent by design.

Relevant source

src/auto-reply/reply/post-compaction-audit.ts

Thanks — happy to test a patch quickly once available.