When agentic_loop suspends for an MCP bridge tool it returns a
{"tool_pending":true,...} envelope with no "reply" key. Without an
explicit check, json_get(loop_result, "reply") returns "" and the
function emitted {"response":"","cgi_id":"..."} — a silent empty
response indistinguishable from a successful LLM turn with no content.
Two guards added after the existing error check:
1. tool_pending passthrough: if the loop suspended, return the pending
envelope directly so callers (dharma room orchestrators) can
distinguish suspension from failure and route to the approve flow.
2. Empty-reply guard: if final_text is empty after the pending check,
return an explicit {"error":"no response",...} envelope instead of
silently succeeding with an empty response field.
Also adds tests/test_agentic_tools.el:
- agentic_tools_all() includes all literal tool names and web_search
- connector_tools_json() returns valid JSON when bridge is down (graceful degradation)
- tool_pending envelope detection patterns (the is_pending logic)
- json_get(pending_envelope, "reply") returns "" confirming the empty-reply
guard is load-bearing (pure string/JSON, no LLM or network required)
Resolves conflicts by keeping main's full safety/stewardship/imprint implementations.
PR #9 uniquely contributes: layered_cycle() in soul.el, route wiring in routes.el,
soul.elh export, and the layer composition test suite.
35 test cases covering all five public functions:
steward_align (pass-through, all five misalignment signals, empty input,
json_get field extraction, redirect shape), steward_validate_imprint
(standard tools, platform-only tools with/without platform_auth,
auth=false string), steward_cgi_check (all four gated actions, non-gated
actions, empty action, action name echoed in response), and
steward_get_mission (non-empty, contains "integrity", not an error object).
Also documents the known bug surface from the code review: the &&
operator in steward_get_mission and the non-Config fallthrough — tests
are written against the actual runtime behaviour so they will catch
regressions when those bugs are fixed.
Covers: imprint_current base fallback, unload idempotency, load miss →
ok=false, ok field presence, respond passthrough for base/empty/unknown
IDs, graceful fallback after unload, surface_knowledge and
surface_memory_read return-type guarantees, base-scoped knowledge
equality, no-annotation invariant for base, empty-ID load rejection, and
failed-load state immutability.
Syntax follows El constraints: no Bool annotations, no &&/||, no unary !.
will.anderson