The built-in chief-of-staff role tells the agent, whenever it is opened or asked where things stand, to read agents_list_live, backlog_list and agents_read_inbox(projectInbox) before answering. Nothing limits that read. Observed today in a project-assistant session: a project inbox notice made it run all three in one parallel call, and 39 KB came back (about 10k tokens) before the agent did any work. It happens again on every resume and every inbox notice.
Suggested fix: (1) the role text says to read unread mail only, open or in-progress tickets only, and the roster only when a status question needs it; (2) backlog_list and agents_list_live get compact modes (status filter, limit, id + title + status fields) that the role uses by default; (3) a turn triggered by a notice reads only the message that triggered it.
Related: f3ca5638 and 23c021cd (fixed boot-prompt overhead; about 38 KB of injected instructions in the same session).
AgentsRoom diagnostics
- App version: 1.221.1
- OS: darwin 27.0.0 (arm64)
- Agent CLI: claude
- App language: system
Problem to solve
Each chief-of-staff opening, resume or inbox notice pulls about 39 KB of status data before any work starts.
Proposed behavior
Limited reads in the role text (unread mail, open tickets, roster only on demand); compact modes for backlog_list and agents_list_live; notice-triggered turns read only the triggering message.
Acceptance criteria
About 10k fewer tokens per coordinator turn.