SynthesisAgent/STATUS.md

SynthesisAgent — Status (paused 2026-05-14)

Where we left off

Scaffolding complete. Two submodules wired up with their core skeletons:

• SynthesisAgent.ClaudePlugin/server.ts — stdio MCP server + bridge WebSocket client. Reads 4 env vars, forwards tool_call / permission_request to OpenClaw side, translates inbound_message frames to notifications/claude/channel.
• SynthesisAgent.OpenclawPlugin — process manager (spawn/resume/idle-GC), session mapping (JSON persist), bridge WS server, OpenClaw plugin entry. Tool-dispatch and inbound-event-subscription are stubbed.

Wire protocol fully specified in docs/wire-protocol.md.

Open blockers (in priority order)

Done / validated 2026-05-14 on laptop (SSH via T2)

• ✅ --channels flag exists in Claude Code 2.1.140/141 (hidden from --help)
• ✅ Syntax: plugin:<name>@<marketplace> or server:<name>
• ✅ --plugin-dir <path> IS documented and works for local plugin loading
• ✅ Capability declaration must be experimental.claude/channel not top-level — scaffolding patched
• ✅ -p mode does NOT trigger turns from channel notifications — interactive only
• ✅ Full gating chain decoded from binary (see memory/claude_channels_protocol.md)
• ❌ Did NOT capture an end-to-end "claude responds to channel notification" trace — got stuck at --dangerously-load-development-channels allowlist gate in script-PTY runs (interactive confirm may not have flowed through). Indirect evidence is overwhelming via the Discord plugin's working production pattern; remaining doubt is small.

Remaining

1. .mcp.json not written — sandbox flagged it as sensitive on Write. Five-line file, need to drop in by hand or approve the write.
2. Confirm channel notification → new turn empirically — Have user run interactively (no PTY tricks):

   claude --mcp-config /tmp/synthesis-mcp.json \
          --channels server:synthesis-stub \
          --dangerously-load-development-channels server:synthesis-stub
   

   (in a trusted dir), confirm dev mode at the prompt, watch for the stub's 1.5s-delayed channel-test ping triggering a turn.
3. Decide deployment path:
   • server: channels are flagged "dangerous dev only" — fine for our own use, awkward for shipping
   • plugin: channels need to be in marketplace allowlist (org allowedChannelPlugins) — requires distribution mechanism
   • Easiest dev path: local marketplace pointing at our repo
4. OpenClaw plugin-sdk inbound subscription API — index.ts has a TODO where api.channels.onInbound(...) should live. Need to read contractor-agent/index.ts carefully and copy the actual pattern.
5. Tool catalog source — web/bridge-server.ts sends an empty tools: [] in hello_ack. Must enumerate OpenClaw's real tool surface and forward.
6. tool_call dispatch — currently returns not implemented. Need to wire to OpenClaw's tool execution path.
7. Permission routing back to source channel — bridge auto-denies any permission_request today.

Quick-start tests to run when resuming

# 0. write .mcp.json (blocked last time)

# 1. verify --channels accepts local path or local marketplace
claude --channels plugin:synthesis-claude@/root/.openclaw/workspace/workspace-developer/SynthesisAgent/SynthesisAgent.ClaudePlugin 2>&1 | head -20

# 2. once #1 works: smoke-test notifications/claude/channel from a stub server
# (build a 30-line MCP server that fakes inbound_message after 5s)

Files to start from when picking up

• README.md — context refresher
• docs/wire-protocol.md — protocol contract
• SynthesisAgent.OpenclawPlugin/README.md — TODO list for that side
• SynthesisAgent.ClaudePlugin/README.md — TODO list for that side

Reference implementations to crib from:

• ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/claude-plugins-official/external_plugins/discord/server.ts — channel protocol model
• /root/.openclaw/plugins/contractor-agent/index.ts — OpenClaw plugin lifecycle model

Why paused

User pivoted to investigate a recurrence of the Discord duplicate-messages bug (discord_duplicate_messages). SynthesisAgent is the longer-term fix for that whole class of problem; the duplicate-messages bug is the short-term hotfix path.