fix(chat): agent write_file/edit_file no longer return false success receipts (BUG-29)

Root cause: dispatch_tool's write_file returned {"ok":true} without checking
fs_write's result, and edit_file returned ok:true even when old_text was absent
(str_replace silently no-ops) and its fs_write was also unchecked. Any failed
or no-op write fed the model a false success receipt, which it then repeated
to the user as fact.

The change (Receipt Contract rule 1 — a tool result must reflect what actually
happened):
- write_file: check fs_write's return (1 = all bytes written, 0 = fail);
  on failure return {"error":"write failed"} in the handler's existing
  error-JSON shape.
- edit_file: reject empty old_text, verify old_text is actually present
  (str_contains) before replacing, and check the fs_write result the same way.
- Verification is by operation result, NOT an fs_read read-back: fs_read arms
  the runtime's one-shot binary send length, the exact mechanism that truncated
  the safety-contact response (#96). Same honest-write pattern as that fix.

E2E evidence (sandboxed elb build, dispatch_tool driven directly):
- unpatched: write_file into a chmod-000 dir -> {"ok":true} (lie);
  edit_file with absent old_text -> {"ok":true} (lie, file untouched)
- patched:   same calls -> {"error":"write failed"} /
  {"error":"old_text not found in file"}; happy paths still ok:true
- scripts/verify-soul-contract.sh on the patched soul: GATE PASS (27/27
  presence + immutability)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Tim Lingo
2026-07-22 16:19:09 -05:00
committed by will.anderson
parent 3d74472a4c
commit 62c562a3f1
+26 -7
View File
@@ -1680,13 +1680,18 @@ fn dispatch_tool(tool_name: String, tool_input: String) -> String {
if !path_within_root(path, root) {
return json_safe("denied: path is outside the agent workspace root")
}
// BUG-6 fix (2026-07-17): never claim ok without disk truth. fs_write's result was
// never checked, so a failed write reported ok the exact false-receipt failure
// the run guards exist to kill. Verify the file landed and return the RESOLVED
// path so callers and the model can only narrate what is really on disk.
// BUG-29 (Receipt Contract rule 1) + BUG-6 (disk truth): fs_write's result
// was ignored, so a failed write (missing/unwritable dir, disk full) still
// returned {"ok":true} a false receipt fed straight to the model. Check
// fs_write's return (1 = all bytes written, 0 = fail): an operation-result
// check, stronger than a post-hoc fs_exists, which false-passes when an
// overwrite fails but the stale file remains. A read-back via fs_read is
// deliberately NOT used: fs_read arms the runtime's one-shot binary send
// length, which truncated longer HTTP responses (the #96 failure mode).
// Still return the RESOLVED path so callers/model narrate only disk truth.
let dest: String = resolve_in_root(path, root)
fs_write(dest, content)
if !fs_exists(dest) {
let write_ok: Int = fs_write(dest, content)
if write_ok == 0 {
return json_safe("{\"error\":\"write failed - nothing landed at " + dest + "\"}")
}
return json_safe("{\"ok\":true,\"path\":\"" + dest + "\"}")
@@ -1766,8 +1771,22 @@ fn dispatch_tool(tool_name: String, tool_input: String) -> String {
if str_eq(content, "") {
return json_safe("{\"error\":\"file not found\"}")
}
// BUG-29 (Receipt Contract rule 1): when old_text was absent (or empty),
// str_replace was a silent no-op and the handler still claimed ok:true
// a false receipt. Verify the text is actually present before replacing.
if str_eq(old_text, "") {
return json_safe("{\"error\":\"old_text is required\"}")
}
if !str_contains(content, old_text) {
return json_safe("{\"error\":\"old_text not found in file\"}")
}
let updated: String = str_replace(content, old_text, new_text)
fs_write(resolved, updated)
// BUG-29: the fs_write result was also unchecked a failed write still
// returned ok:true. Same honest-write check as write_file above.
let write_ok: Int = fs_write(resolved, updated)
if write_ok == 0 {
return json_safe("{\"error\":\"write failed\"}")
}
return json_safe("{\"ok\":true}")
}
if str_eq(tool_name, "remember") {