@sigitcodereview / sigit / commits / 4fe3c49

Fix /init inventing placeholder paths in the TUI

The TUI system prompts never told the model the session's working directory: startup and on-device model load appended only the project instruction files, and the cloud-tier switch in the model picker passed the bare base prompt. With no cwd to anchor to, /init (issue #40) wrote AGENTS.md to the literal placeholder path /path/to/repo/AGENTS.md, the write failed, and the model misreported the repository as read-only — which the user saw as a permissions problem. ACP sessions and headless runs already push session_context_message (cwd guidance + instruction files) at every entry point. Give the TUI the same context: a shared tui_system_prompt helper composes the model-appropriate base prompt with that message, and all three TUI backend-construction sites use it. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01DU2U9Vqa7GWg645wQabokw

Claude committed Jul 17, 2026 at 13:19 UTC 4fe3c49a11a2c8167baeaea81944b184598a256b

2 files changed +46 -28

src/chat.rs

+5 -15

@@ -2672,19 +2672,10 @@ mod tui {

2672 };

2673

2674 // own thread + runtime so block_in_place doesn't starve the TUI loop.

2675 - // Fold in project instruction files (AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md) for the launch

2676 - // directory so the on-device model gets the same always-on context the

2677 - // cloud and ACP paths get.

2678 - let system_prompt = {

2679 - let base = crate::system_prompt_for_model(model.tool_calling).to_string();

2680 - match std::env::current_dir()

2681 - .ok()

2682 - .and_then(|cwd| crate::instructions::load_project_instructions(&cwd))

2683 - {

2684 - Some(extra) => format!("{base}\n\n{extra}"),

2685 - None => base,

2686 - }

2687 - };

2675 + // Fold in the session context (cwd guidance + AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md

2676 + // instruction files) for the launch directory so the on-device model

2677 + // gets the same always-on context the cloud and ACP paths get.

2678 + let system_prompt = crate::tui_system_prompt(model.tool_calling);

2679 let engine_handle = Arc::clone(&engine);

2680 let tool_calling = model.tool_calling;

2681 std::thread::spawn(move || {

@@ -2875,8 +2866,7 @@ mod tui {

2866 app.close_model_picker();

2867 match crate::provider::cloud_tier_provider(&tier) {

2868 Some(provider) => {

2878 - let system_prompt =

2879 - crate::system_prompt_for_model(true).to_string();

2869 + let system_prompt = crate::tui_system_prompt(true);

2870 app.backend = Arc::new(OpenAiBackend::new(

2871 provider.base_url,

2872 provider.api_key,

src/main.rs

+41 -13

@@ -298,6 +298,21 @@ fn session_context_message(cwd: &std::path::Path) -> String {

298 message

299 }

300

301 +/// The full system prompt for a TUI backend: the model-appropriate base prompt

302 +/// plus [`session_context_message`] for the launch directory. The TUI

303 +/// counterpart of the ACP entry points, which push that context as a separate

304 +/// system message — without the cwd guidance the model doesn't know where the

305 +/// project lives and invents placeholder paths (e.g. `/init` trying to write

306 +/// `/path/to/repo/AGENTS.md`).

307 +#[cfg(unix)]

308 +pub(crate) fn tui_system_prompt(tool_calling: bool) -> String {

309 + let base = system_prompt_for_model(tool_calling);

310 + match std::env::current_dir() {

311 + Ok(cwd) => format!("{base}\n\n{}", session_context_message(&cwd)),

312 + Err(_) => base.to_string(),

313 + }

314 +}

315 +

316 fn agent_tools_as_specs() -> Vec<ToolSpec> {

317 let mut specs: Vec<ToolSpec> = tools::all_tools()

318 .into_iter()

@@ -2922,16 +2937,12 @@ async fn run_interactive(tty: std::fs::File, mut cleanup_tty: std::fs::File) ->

2937 // channel so the loading-phase plumbing in `chat::run_with` is unchanged.

2938 let (load_tx, load_rx) = std::sync::mpsc::channel::<Result<(), String>>();

2939

2925 - // Project instruction files (AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md) for the launch directory,

2926 - // injected into the system prompt so the TUI shares the same always-on

2927 - // project context the ACP sessions get.

2928 - let project_instructions = std::env::current_dir()

2929 - .ok()

2930 - .and_then(|cwd| instructions::load_project_instructions(&cwd));

2931 - let with_instructions = |base: String| match &project_instructions {

2932 - Some(extra) => format!("{base}\n\n{extra}"),

2933 - None => base,

2934 - };

2940 + // Session context (cwd guidance + AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md instruction files)

2941 + // for the launch directory, injected into the system prompt so the TUI

2942 + // shares the same always-on project context the ACP sessions get — in

2943 + // particular the model must know the real working directory, or tools like

2944 + // `/init` write to invented paths.

2945 + let remote_system_prompt = tui_system_prompt(true);

2946

2947 // Pick the inference backend: a configured provider if present, else on-device.

2948 let (inference_backend, startup_model_name): (Arc<dyn InferenceBackend>, String) =

@@ -2951,7 +2962,7 @@ async fn run_interactive(tty: std::fs::File, mut cleanup_tty: std::fs::File) ->

2962 provider.base_url,

2963 provider.api_key,

2964 provider.model,

2954 - Some(with_instructions(SYSTEM_PROMPT.to_string())),

2965 + Some(remote_system_prompt.clone()),

2966 )) as Arc<dyn InferenceBackend>;

2967 (backend, label)

2968 }

@@ -2959,7 +2970,7 @@ async fn run_interactive(tty: std::fs::File, mut cleanup_tty: std::fs::File) ->

2970 // Honor the Local Inference toggle: when off and signed in, start

2971 // on a cloud tier. Otherwise bring up on-device WITHOUT loading a

2972 // model — the user loads it explicitly with /load (or /models), so

2962 - // the UI comes up immediately. Project instructions are injected at

2973 + // the UI comes up immediately. Session context is injected at

2974 // load time in `chat.rs`.

2975 let cloud_when_off = if settings::local_inference_enabled() {

2976 None

@@ -2981,7 +2992,7 @@ async fn run_interactive(tty: std::fs::File, mut cleanup_tty: std::fs::File) ->

2992 provider.base_url,

2993 provider.api_key,

2994 provider.model,

2984 - Some(with_instructions(SYSTEM_PROMPT.to_string())),

2995 + Some(remote_system_prompt.clone()),

2996 )) as Arc<dyn InferenceBackend>;

2997 (backend, label)

2998 }

@@ -3369,6 +3380,23 @@ mod tests {

3380 );

3381 }

3382

3383 + #[test]

3384 + #[cfg(unix)]

3385 + fn tui_system_prompt_names_the_real_working_directory() {

3386 + // The /init flow relies on the model knowing where the project lives:

3387 + // without the cwd guidance it invents placeholder paths like

3388 + // `/path/to/repo/AGENTS.md` and misreads the failure as a filesystem

3389 + // permissions problem (issue #40).

3390 + let _guard = ENV_TEST_LOCK

3391 + .lock()

3392 + .unwrap_or_else(|poisoned| poisoned.into_inner());

3393 + let cwd = std::env::current_dir().unwrap();

3394 + let prompt = tui_system_prompt(true);

3395 + assert!(prompt.starts_with(SYSTEM_PROMPT));

3396 + assert!(prompt.contains("project working directory"));

3397 + assert!(prompt.contains(&cwd.display().to_string()));

3398 + }

3399 +

3400 #[test]

3401 fn parse_slash_maps_init() {

3402 assert!(matches!(parse_slash("/init"), Some(SlashCommand::Init)));