Problem

When auto-compaction fails due to context overflow, the system resets the session and silently continues the execution loop without sending any response to the user. This makes it appear as if messages are being ignored, which is confusing and feels like data loss.

Root Cause

In agent-runner-execution.ts, when resetSessionAfterCompactionFailure() is called, the code uses continue to restart the loop instead of returning a user-facing response. Compare this to how role ordering conflicts are handled - they properly return an error message to the user.

Solution

1. Replace the silent continue with a proper return that sends the user a clear error message
2. Include actionable advice on how to prevent future occurrences

The error message now reads:

⚠️ Context limit exceeded during compaction. I've reset our conversation to start fresh - please try again.

To prevent this, increase your compaction buffer by setting agents.defaults.compaction.reserveTokensFloor to 4000 or higher in your config.

Changes

• src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner-execution.ts:
  • Embedded error context overflow case returns user message with config tip
  • Catch block compaction failure case returns user message with config tip

Testing

Tested on production instance experiencing this bug. After the fix:

• Users receive clear error message instead of silence
• Users get actionable config suggestion to prevent recurrence