fix(agent-runner): require explicit destination addressing, fix per-destination threading

The poll loop had a bare-text routing fallback in dispatchResultText: when
the agent produced text without <message to="..."> wrapping, it would auto-
route to the session's originating channel (via a frozen RoutingContext) or
to the single configured destination. This caused three problems:

1. Routing drift: RoutingContext was extracted once from the initial batch
   and never refreshed. When the initial batch was a null-routed cron task
   and a real chat arrived mid-query, replies were silently dropped to
   scratchpad because the frozen routing had all-null fields.

2. Cross-channel thread bleed: sendToDestination applied a single
   routing.threadId to every outbound message regardless of destination.
   In agent-shared sessions (multiple channels sharing one session), one
   channel's thread ID was stamped onto messages to a different channel.

3. Inconsistent formatting: task, webhook, and system messages had no
   origin metadata in their formatted output, so the agent couldn't tell
   which destination they came from — even when the underlying messages_in
   rows carried routing fields.

Changes:

- Remove the bare-text routing fallbacks in dispatchResultText (both the
  routing-based and single-destination shortcuts). All agent output must
  be wrapped in <message to="name">...</message>. Bare text is scratchpad.

- Update buildDestinationsSection() to require explicit wrapping for all
  groups, including single-destination. No more "no special wrapping
  needed" shortcut.

- Resolve thread_id per-destination via resolveDestinationThread(), which
  queries messages_in for the most recent message matching the target
  channel+platform. Falls back to null (top-level channel message) when
  no prior inbound exists for that destination.

- Extract originAttr() helper in formatter.ts and apply it to all message
  types. Tasks now render as <task from="dest" time="...">, webhooks as
  <webhook from="dest" source="..." event="...">, system responses as
  <system_response from="dest" ...>. The agent always sees where a
  message originated.

- Add a PreCompact shell hook (compact-instructions.ts) that outputs
  custom compaction instructions, telling the compactor to preserve
  recent message XML structure and routing metadata in the summary.
  Wired via settings.json in the .claude-shared scaffold, with a
  migration path (ensurePreCompactHook) for existing groups.

Relation to open PRs:

- #2277 (mergeRouting) becomes unnecessary — the routing fallback it
  patches no longer exists. Can be closed.
- #2327 (post-compaction destination reminder) is complementary — it
  handles the post-compaction push, this handles pre-compaction
  instructions. Both can merge independently.
- #2328 (default routing instruction) is complementary — it adds "reply
  to the from= destination" guidance to the multi-destination section.
  Compatible with the unified instruction format here.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

container/agent-runner/src/compact-instructions.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/**
+ * PreCompact hook script — outputs custom compaction instructions to stdout.
+ *
+ * Claude Code captures the stdout of PreCompact shell hooks and passes it
+ * as `customInstructions` to the compaction prompt. This ensures the
+ * compaction summary preserves message routing context that the agent needs
+ * to correctly address responses.
+ *
+ * Invoked by the PreCompact hook in .claude-shared/settings.json:
+ *   "command": "bun /app/src/compact-instructions.ts"
+ */
+import { getAllDestinations } from './destinations.js';
+
+const destinations = getAllDestinations();
+const names = destinations.map((d) => d.name);
+
+const instructions = [
+  'Preserve the following in the compaction summary:',
+  '',
+  '1. For recent messages, keep the full XML structure including all attributes:',
+  '   - <message from="..." sender="..." time="..."> for chat messages',
+  '   - <task from="..." time="..."> for scheduled tasks',
+  '   - <webhook from="..." source="..." event="..."> for webhooks',
+  '   The message content can be summarized if long, but the XML tags and attributes must remain.',
+  '',
+  '2. Preserve the chronological message/reply sequence of recent exchanges.',
+  '   The agent needs to see: who said what, in what order, and from which destination.',
+  '',
+  '3. The `from` attribute identifies which destination sent the message.',
+  '   The agent MUST wrap all responses in <message to="name">...</message> blocks.',
+  `   Available destinations: ${names.length > 0 ? names.map((n) => `\`${n}\``).join(', ') : '(none)'}`,
+];
+
+console.log(instructions.join('\n'));

container/agent-runner/src/destinations.ts

@@ -102,28 +102,20 @@ function buildDestinationsSection(): string {
     ].join('\n');
   }
 
-  // Single-destination shortcut: the agent just writes its response normally.
+  const lines = ['## Sending messages', ''];
   if (all.length === 1) {
     const d = all[0];
     const label = d.displayName && d.displayName !== d.name ? ` (${d.displayName})` : '';
-    return [
+    lines.push(`Your destination is \`${d.name}\`${label}.`);
-      '## Sending messages',
+  } else {
-      '',
+    lines.push('You can send messages to the following destinations:', '');
-      `Your messages are delivered to \`${d.name}\`${label}. Just write your response directly — no special wrapping needed.`,
+    for (const d of all) {
-      '',
+      const label = d.displayName && d.displayName !== d.name ? ` (${d.displayName})` : '';
-      'To mark something as scratchpad (logged but not sent), wrap it in `<internal>...</internal>`.',
+      lines.push(`- \`${d.name}\`${label}`);
-      '',
+    }
-      'To send a message mid-response (e.g., an acknowledgment before a long task), call the `send_message` MCP tool.',
-    ].join('\n');
-  }
-
-  const lines = ['## Sending messages', '', 'You can send messages to the following destinations:', ''];
-  for (const d of all) {
-    const label = d.displayName && d.displayName !== d.name ? ` (${d.displayName})` : '';
-    lines.push(`- \`${d.name}\`${label}`);
   }
   lines.push('');
-  lines.push('To send a message, wrap it in a `<message to="name">...</message>` block.');
+  lines.push('**Every response must be wrapped** in a `<message to="name">...</message>` block.');
   lines.push('You can include multiple `<message>` blocks in one response to send to multiple destinations.');
   lines.push('Text outside of `<message>` blocks is scratchpad — logged but not sent anywhere.');
   lines.push('Use `<internal>...</internal>` to make scratchpad intent explicit.');

container/agent-runner/src/formatter.ts

@@ -177,40 +177,49 @@ function formatSingleChat(msg: MessageInRow): string {
   const replyPrefix = formatReplyContext(content.replyTo);
   const attachmentsSuffix = formatAttachments(content.attachments);
 
-  // Look up the destination name for the origin (reverse map lookup).
+  const fromAttr = originAttr(msg);
-  // If not found, fall back to a raw channel:platform_id marker so nothing
-  // gets silently dropped — this should only happen if the destination was
-  // removed between when the message was received and when it's being processed.
-  const fromDest = findByRouting(msg.channel_type, msg.platform_id);
-  const fromAttr = fromDest
-    ? ` from="${escapeXml(fromDest.name)}"`
-    : msg.channel_type || msg.platform_id
-      ? ` from="unknown:${escapeXml(msg.channel_type || '')}:${escapeXml(msg.platform_id || '')}"`
-      : '';
 
   return `<message${idAttr}${fromAttr} sender="${escapeXml(sender)}" time="${escapeXml(time)}"${replyAttr}>${replyPrefix}${escapeXml(text)}${attachmentsSuffix}</message>`;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Build a ` from="destination_name"` attribute string from a message's routing
+ * fields. Shared by all formatters so the agent always knows where a message
+ * originated — critical for explicit addressing.
+ */
+function originAttr(msg: MessageInRow): string {
+  const fromDest = findByRouting(msg.channel_type, msg.platform_id);
+  if (fromDest) return ` from="${escapeXml(fromDest.name)}"`;
+  if (msg.channel_type || msg.platform_id) {
+    return ` from="unknown:${escapeXml(msg.channel_type || '')}:${escapeXml(msg.platform_id || '')}"`;
+  }
+  return '';
+}
+
 function formatTaskMessage(msg: MessageInRow): string {
   const content = parseContent(msg.content);
-  const parts = ['[SCHEDULED TASK]'];
+  const from = originAttr(msg);
+  const time = formatLocalTime(msg.timestamp, TIMEZONE);
+  const parts: string[] = [];
   if (content.scriptOutput) {
-    parts.push('', 'Script output:', JSON.stringify(content.scriptOutput, null, 2));
+    parts.push('Script output:', JSON.stringify(content.scriptOutput, null, 2), '');
   }
-  parts.push('', 'Instructions:', content.prompt || '');
+  parts.push('Instructions:', content.prompt || '');
-  return parts.join('\n');
+  return `<task${from} time="${escapeXml(time)}">${parts.join('\n')}</task>`;
 }
 
 function formatWebhookMessage(msg: MessageInRow): string {
   const content = parseContent(msg.content);
   const source = content.source || 'unknown';
   const event = content.event || 'unknown';
-  return `[WEBHOOK: ${source}/${event}]\n\n${JSON.stringify(content.payload || content, null, 2)}`;
+  const from = originAttr(msg);
+  return `<webhook${from} source="${escapeXml(source)}" event="${escapeXml(event)}">${JSON.stringify(content.payload || content, null, 2)}</webhook>`;
 }
 
 function formatSystemMessage(msg: MessageInRow): string {
   const content = parseContent(msg.content);
-  return `[SYSTEM RESPONSE]\n\nAction: ${content.action || 'unknown'}\nStatus: ${content.status || 'unknown'}\nResult: ${JSON.stringify(content.result || null)}`;
+  const from = originAttr(msg);
+  return `<system_response${from} action="${escapeXml(content.action || 'unknown')}" status="${escapeXml(content.status || 'unknown')}">${JSON.stringify(content.result || null)}</system_response>`;
 }
 
 /**

container/agent-runner/src/poll-loop.test.ts

@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ describe('formatter', () => {
     insertMessage('m1', 'task', { prompt: 'Review open PRs' });
     const messages = getPendingMessages();
     const prompt = formatMessages(messages);
-    expect(prompt).toContain('[SCHEDULED TASK]');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('<task');
     expect(prompt).toContain('Review open PRs');
   });
 
@@ -55,15 +55,17 @@ describe('formatter', () => {
     insertMessage('m1', 'webhook', { source: 'github', event: 'push', payload: { ref: 'main' } });
     const messages = getPendingMessages();
     const prompt = formatMessages(messages);
-    expect(prompt).toContain('[WEBHOOK: github/push]');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('<webhook');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('source="github"');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('event="push"');
   });
 
   it('should format system messages', () => {
     insertMessage('m1', 'system', { action: 'register_group', status: 'success', result: { id: 'ag-1' } });
     const messages = getPendingMessages();
     const prompt = formatMessages(messages);
-    expect(prompt).toContain('[SYSTEM RESPONSE]');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('<system_response');
-    expect(prompt).toContain('register_group');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('action="register_group"');
   });
 
   it('should handle mixed kinds', () => {
@@ -72,7 +74,7 @@ describe('formatter', () => {
     const messages = getPendingMessages();
     const prompt = formatMessages(messages);
     expect(prompt).toContain('sender="John"');
-    expect(prompt).toContain('[SYSTEM RESPONSE]');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('<system_response');
   });
 
   it('should escape XML in content', () => {

container/agent-runner/src/poll-loop.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-import { findByName, getAllDestinations, type DestinationEntry } from './destinations.js';
+import { findByName, type DestinationEntry } from './destinations.js';
 import { getPendingMessages, markProcessing, markCompleted, type MessageInRow } from './db/messages-in.js';
 import { writeMessageOut } from './db/messages-out.js';
-import { touchHeartbeat, clearStaleProcessingAcks } from './db/connection.js';
+import { getInboundDb, touchHeartbeat, clearStaleProcessingAcks } from './db/connection.js';
 import {
   clearContinuation,
   migrateLegacyContinuation,
@@ -396,14 +396,10 @@ function handleEvent(event: ProviderEvent, _routing: RoutingContext): void {
 /**
  * Parse the agent's final text for <message to="name">...</message> blocks
  * and dispatch each one to its resolved destination. Text outside of blocks
- * (including <internal>...</internal>) is normally scratchpad — logged but
+ * (including <internal>...</internal>) is scratchpad — logged but not sent.
- * not sent.
  *
- * Single-destination shortcut: if the agent has exactly one configured
+ * The agent must always wrap output in <message to="name">...</message>
- * destination AND the output contains zero <message> blocks, the entire
+ * blocks, even with a single destination. Bare text is scratchpad only.
- * cleaned text (with <internal> tags stripped) is sent to that destination.
- * This preserves the simple case of one user on one channel — the agent
- * doesn't need to know about wrapping syntax at all.
  */
 function dispatchResultText(text: string, routing: RoutingContext): void {
   const MESSAGE_RE = /<message\s+to="([^"]+)"\s*>([\s\S]*?)<\/message>/g;
@@ -436,30 +432,6 @@ function dispatchResultText(text: string, routing: RoutingContext): void {
 
   const scratchpad = stripInternalTags(scratchpadParts.join(''));
 
-  // Single-destination shortcut: the agent wrote plain text — send to
-  // the session's originating channel (from session_routing) if available,
-  // otherwise fall back to the single destination.
-  if (sent === 0 && scratchpad) {
-    if (routing.channelType && routing.platformId) {
-      // Reply to the channel/thread the message came from
-      writeMessageOut({
-        id: generateId(),
-        in_reply_to: routing.inReplyTo,
-        kind: 'chat',
-        platform_id: routing.platformId,
-        channel_type: routing.channelType,
-        thread_id: routing.threadId,
-        content: JSON.stringify({ text: scratchpad }),
-      });
-      return;
-    }
-    const all = getAllDestinations();
-    if (all.length === 1) {
-      sendToDestination(all[0], scratchpad, routing);
-      return;
-    }
-  }
-
   if (scratchpad) {
     log(`[scratchpad] ${scratchpad.slice(0, 500)}${scratchpad.length > 500 ? '…' : ''}`);
   }
@@ -472,20 +444,46 @@ function dispatchResultText(text: string, routing: RoutingContext): void {
 function sendToDestination(dest: DestinationEntry, body: string, routing: RoutingContext): void {
   const platformId = dest.type === 'channel' ? dest.platformId! : dest.agentGroupId!;
   const channelType = dest.type === 'channel' ? dest.channelType! : 'agent';
-  // Inherit thread_id from the inbound routing context so replies land in the
+  // Resolve thread_id per-destination from the most recent inbound message
-  // same thread the conversation is in. For non-threaded adapters the router
+  // that came from this same channel+platform. In agent-shared sessions,
-  // strips thread_id at ingest, so this will already be null.
+  // different destinations have different thread contexts — using a single
+  // routing.threadId would stamp one channel's thread onto another.
+  const destRouting = resolveDestinationThread(channelType, platformId);
   writeMessageOut({
     id: generateId(),
-    in_reply_to: routing.inReplyTo,
+    in_reply_to: destRouting?.inReplyTo ?? routing.inReplyTo,
     kind: 'chat',
     platform_id: platformId,
     channel_type: channelType,
-    thread_id: routing.threadId,
+    thread_id: destRouting?.threadId ?? null,
     content: JSON.stringify({ text: body }),
   });
 }
 
+/**
+ * Find the thread_id and message id from the most recent inbound message
+ * matching the given channel+platform. Returns null if no match found.
+ */
+function resolveDestinationThread(
+  channelType: string,
+  platformId: string,
+): { threadId: string | null; inReplyTo: string | null } | null {
+  try {
+    const db = getInboundDb();
+    const row = db
+      .prepare(
+        `SELECT thread_id, id FROM messages_in
+         WHERE channel_type = ? AND platform_id = ?
+         ORDER BY seq DESC LIMIT 1`,
+      )
+      .get(channelType, platformId) as { thread_id: string | null; id: string } | undefined;
+    if (row) return { threadId: row.thread_id, inReplyTo: row.id };
+  } catch {
+    // Fall through — DB may not have these columns on older sessions
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
 function sleep(ms: number): Promise<void> {
   return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
 }

src/group-init.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,18 @@ const DEFAULT_SETTINGS_JSON =
         CLAUDE_CODE_ADDITIONAL_DIRECTORIES_CLAUDE_MD: '1',
         CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_AUTO_MEMORY: '0',
       },
+      hooks: {
+        PreCompact: [
+          {
+            hooks: [
+              {
+                type: 'command',
+                command: 'bun /app/src/compact-instructions.ts',
+              },
+            ],
+          },
+        ],
+      },
     },
     null,
     2,
@@ -71,10 +83,13 @@ export function initGroupFilesystem(group: AgentGroup, opts?: { instructions?: s
   if (!fs.existsSync(settingsFile)) {
     fs.writeFileSync(settingsFile, DEFAULT_SETTINGS_JSON);
     initialized.push('settings.json');
+  } else {
+    ensurePreCompactHook(settingsFile, initialized);
   }
 
   // Skills directory — created empty here; symlinks are synced at spawn
   // time by container-runner.ts based on container.json skills selection.
+  // (ensurePreCompactHook is defined after the main function.)
   const skillsDst = path.join(claudeDir, 'skills');
   if (!fs.existsSync(skillsDst)) {
     fs.mkdirSync(skillsDst, { recursive: true });
@@ -90,3 +105,32 @@ export function initGroupFilesystem(group: AgentGroup, opts?: { instructions?: s
     });
   }
 }
+
+const PRE_COMPACT_COMMAND = 'bun /app/src/compact-instructions.ts';
+
+/**
+ * Patch an existing settings.json to add the PreCompact hook if missing.
+ * Runs on every group init so pre-existing groups pick up the hook.
+ */
+function ensurePreCompactHook(settingsFile: string, initialized: string[]): void {
+  try {
+    const raw = fs.readFileSync(settingsFile, 'utf-8');
+    const settings = JSON.parse(raw);
+
+    // Check if there's already a PreCompact hook with our command.
+    const existing = settings.hooks?.PreCompact as unknown[] | undefined;
+    if (existing && JSON.stringify(existing).includes(PRE_COMPACT_COMMAND)) return;
+
+    // Add the hook, preserving existing hooks.
+    if (!settings.hooks) settings.hooks = {};
+    if (!settings.hooks.PreCompact) settings.hooks.PreCompact = [];
+    settings.hooks.PreCompact.push({
+      hooks: [{ type: 'command', command: PRE_COMPACT_COMMAND }],
+    });
+
+    fs.writeFileSync(settingsFile, JSON.stringify(settings, null, 2) + '\n');
+    initialized.push('settings.json (added PreCompact hook)');
+  } catch {
+    // Don't break init if settings.json is malformed — it'll use whatever's there.
+  }
+}