@json-layout/core 2.8.1 → 2.9.0

package/src/webmcp/project.js

@@ -4,6 +4,169 @@
 
 import { isItemsLayout } from '@json-layout/vocabulary'
 
+import { visibleChildren, resolveNode } from './resolve.js'
+import { projectDeclaredFields } from './schema.js'
+
+/**
+ * Suggestion values can be arbitrarily large objects (a whole dataset definition for example),
+ * they are kept out of the tools output and retrieved by index with setFieldValue.
+ */
+/**
+ * Longest value inlined in a suggestion listing. Only scalars are ever inlined: a picker
+ * shows a person titles, not the objects behind them, and an agent picks a row the same
+ * way, by index. Printing a slice of each object cost 61-77% of every suggestion response
+ * measured, for bytes the tool's own description tells the agent never to copy.
+ */
+export const SUGGESTION_VALUE_MAX_LENGTH = 100
+
+/**
+ * Longest value rendered in full anywhere the agent reads state. Beyond it a value is
+ * named rather than printed: a picked data-fair dataset is 4-13 KB of column schema, and
+ * echoing it on the write, again in the state tree and a third time from getData was the
+ * single largest cost in the eval — for content the agent applied by index and never had
+ * to handle.
+ */
+export const DISPLAYED_VALUE_MAX_LENGTH = 1000
+
+/** Most revealed or hidden paths named before the list is summarised instead. */
+export const REVEALED_PATHS_MAX = 10
+
+/**
+ * Longest rendered list of options inlined into a state line instead of being flagged as
+ * something to go and fetch. A closed enum is already in hand — the state layer resolves it
+ * into itemsCacheKey without a request — so flagging it sent the agent on a round trip for
+ * a list nobody had to look up: charts spent two of sixteen calls reading four-const enums,
+ * and sortBy, sortOrder, color and strValue would each have cost another.
+ */
+export const INLINE_ITEMS_MAX_LENGTH = 200
+
+/**
+ * The options of a node when they are already resolved, and short enough to say out loud.
+ *
+ * itemsCacheKey is what the state layer fetched or evaluated for this node: an array once
+ * the options are known locally, the resolved URL string for a remote picker. So an array
+ * is exactly the case where getFieldSuggestions would tell the agent something the form
+ * could already have said.
+ * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node
+ * @returns {string | undefined} the rendered list, or undefined to keep flagging it
+ */
+function inlineItems (node) {
+  const items = /** @type {any} */(node).itemsCacheKey
+  if (!Array.isArray(items) || items.length === 0) return undefined
+  const values = items.map((item) => (item && typeof item === 'object' && 'value' in item) ? item.value : item)
+  // only a short scalar can be written straight back; an object value has to be applied by
+  // suggestionIndex, so stating it would cost bytes and still leave the agent a lookup
+  if (!values.every((v) => typeof v === 'string' || typeof v === 'number' || typeof v === 'boolean')) return undefined
+  const rendered = JSON.stringify(values)
+  return rendered.length <= INLINE_ITEMS_MAX_LENGTH ? rendered : undefined
+}
+
+/**
+ * Longest help inlined on a node the agent did not ask about. Help is written for someone
+ * looking at a form, where it sits behind a "?" icon and is read on demand; inlined into
+ * every state read it is pushed instead, and portal-page spends 782 characters of SEO
+ * advice on a field no agent in the eval has ever filled. Past this length it is named and
+ * left to be fetched, the same bargain oversized values get. Short help stays inline
+ * whatever the node — it is the kind that changes what an agent writes, such as a negative
+ * height meaning automatic sizing.
+ */
+export const HELP_MAX_LENGTH = 300
+
+/** the few named entities that show up in form help, plus the numeric forms */
+const NAMED_ENTITIES = { amp: '&', lt: '<', gt: '>', quot: '"', apos: "'", nbsp: ' ' }
+
+/**
+ * Help is authored as HTML for a browser. An agent reads text, so the markup is pure cost —
+ * `&#39;` is not merely wasted, it is harder to read than the apostrophe it stands for —
+ * and the newlines between block tags break the one-line-per-node markdown the state tree
+ * is made of.
+ * @param {string} html
+ * @returns {string}
+ */
+export function helpToText (html) {
+  return html
+    .replace(/<li\b[^>]*>/gi, ' - ')
+    .replace(/<[^>]+>/g, ' ')
+    .replace(/&#(\d+);/g, (_, d) => String.fromCharCode(Number(d)))
+    .replace(/&#x([0-9a-f]+);/gi, (_, h) => String.fromCharCode(parseInt(h, 16)))
+    .replace(/&([a-z]+);/gi, (m, name) => /** @type {any} */(NAMED_ENTITIES)[name.toLowerCase()] ?? m)
+    .replace(/\s+/g, ' ')
+    .trim()
+}
+
+/**
+ * Which nodes are currently rendered, by path. A node hidden by an `if` condition stays
+ * in the tree as comp "none", so what a write changes is visibility rather than the set
+ * of paths — comparing paths alone would report nothing.
+ * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node
+ * @param {Map<string, string>} [into]
+ * @returns {Map<string, string>}
+ */
+export function visibilitySnapshot (node, into = new Map()) {
+  if (node.fullKey !== undefined) into.set(node.fullKey, node.layout?.comp)
+  for (const child of node.children ?? []) visibilitySnapshot(child, into)
+  return into
+}
+
+/**
+ * What a write turned visible or invisible.
+ *
+ * Only paths present in both snapshots count. Activating a variant replaces one branch
+ * with another, so its nodes are new paths rather than nodes that changed visibility —
+ * setFieldValue already lists the activated branch, and counting them here would print
+ * the same subtree twice.
+ * @param {Map<string, string>} before
+ * @param {Map<string, string>} after
+ * @returns {{ revealed: string[], hidden: string[] }}
+ */
+export function diffVisibility (before, after) {
+  /** @type {string[]} */
+  const revealed = []
+  /** @type {string[]} */
+  const hidden = []
+  for (const [path, comp] of after) {
+    if (!before.has(path)) continue
+    const was = before.get(path)
+    if (was === 'none' && comp !== 'none') revealed.push(path)
+    else if (was !== 'none' && comp === 'none') hidden.push(path)
+  }
+  return { revealed, hidden }
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {{ revealed: string[], hidden: string[] }} diff
+ * @returns {string}
+ */
+export function formatVisibilityDiff (diff) {
+  /**
+   * @param {string[]} paths
+   * @param {string} what
+   * @returns {string}
+   */
+  const line = (paths, what) => {
+    if (!paths.length) return ''
+    const shown = paths.slice(0, REVEALED_PATHS_MAX).join(', ')
+    const rest = paths.length > REVEALED_PATHS_MAX ? `, and ${paths.length - REVEALED_PATHS_MAX} more` : ''
+    return `\n${paths.length} field(s) ${what}: ${shown}${rest}`
+  }
+  return line(diff.revealed, 'became available') + line(diff.hidden, 'are no longer available')
+}
+
+/**
+ * Render a value for the agent: in full when it is small enough to be worth reading,
+ * otherwise named with its kind and size so the agent knows what is there without paying
+ * for it. It can always read a node's own subtree with describeState.
+ * @param {unknown} value
+ * @returns {string | undefined}
+ */
+export function abbreviateValue (value) {
+  const json = JSON.stringify(value)
+  if (json === undefined || json.length <= DISPLAYED_VALUE_MAX_LENGTH) return json
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) return `<array of ${value.length} items, ${json.length} chars — call getData with this path to read it>`
+  if (value !== null && typeof value === 'object') return `<object, ${json.length} chars — call getData with this path to read it>`
+  return `<${typeof value}, ${json.length} chars>`
+}
+
 const constraintKeys = {
   'number-field': ['min', 'max', 'step', 'precision'],
   slider: ['min', 'max', 'step'],
@@ -46,77 +209,131 @@ function getConstraintKeys (comp) {
 }
 
 /**
- * @typedef {{
- *   path: string,
- *   type: string,
- *   data: unknown,
- *   title?: string,
- *   label?: string,
- *   help?: string,
- *   error?: string,
- *   required?: boolean,
- *   readOnly?: boolean,
- *   modified?: boolean,
- *   constraints?: Record<string, unknown>,
- *   variants?: Array<{index: number, title: string}>,
- *   selectedVariant?: number,
- *   children?: Array<ProjectedNode>,
- *   getSuggestions?: boolean
- * }} ProjectedNode
+ * A list item rendered as a summary is read-only only because the list did not activate it,
+ * the agent should not be told that this item cannot be edited.
+ * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node
+ * @param {import('../state/index.js').StatefulLayout} statefulLayout
+ * @returns {boolean}
  */
+function isEditableListItemSummary (node, statefulLayout) {
+  if (!node.options.summary) return false
+  if (node.parentFullKey === null || node.parentFullKey === undefined) return false
+  const parent = resolveNode(statefulLayout.stateTree.root, node.parentFullKey)
+  if (!parent || parent.layout.comp !== 'list' || parent.options.readOnly) return false
+  // a list that does not allow item edition really has read-only items
+  const listActions = /** @type {Record<string, unknown>} */(parent.layout).listActions
+  if (Array.isArray(listActions) && !listActions.includes('edit')) return false
+  return true
+}
 
 /**
+ * readOnly is inherited by everything below a list item rendered as a summary, so the exemption
+ * has to look at the ancestors too: the fields of such an item are writable, and presenting them
+ * as read-only makes an agent skip fields it is allowed to fill. Only walked for a readOnly node.
  * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node
  * @param {import('../state/index.js').StatefulLayout} statefulLayout
- * @returns {ProjectedNode}
+ * @returns {boolean}
  */
-export function projectNode (node, statefulLayout) {
-  /** @type {ProjectedNode} */
-  const out = {
-    path: node.fullKey,
-    type: compToType[node.layout.comp] || node.layout.comp,
-    data: node.data
+function isReadOnly (node, statefulLayout) {
+  if (!node.options.readOnly) return false
+  /** @type {import('../state/types.js').StateNode|undefined} */
+  let current = node
+  while (current) {
+    if (isEditableListItemSummary(current, statefulLayout)) return false
+    const parentFullKey = current.parentFullKey
+    if (parentFullKey === null || parentFullKey === undefined) break
+    current = resolveNode(statefulLayout.stateTree.root, parentFullKey)
   }
+  return true
+}
 
-  const layout = /** @type {Record<string, unknown>} */(node.layout)
-  if (typeof layout.title === 'string') out.title = layout.title
-  if (typeof layout.label === 'string') out.label = layout.label
-  if (node.layout.help) out.help = node.layout.help
-
-  if (node.error) out.error = node.error
+/**
+ * Validation errors of the whole state tree indexed by node path.
+ * Only the first of the two occurrences of an activated list item captures the errors, so a
+ * node reached through the editable occurrence has to look its own error up by path.
+ * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} root
+ * @returns {Record<string, string>}
+ */
+function indexErrorsByPath (root) {
+  /** @type {Record<string, string>} */
+  const byPath = {}
+  /** @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node */
+  const recurse = (node) => {
+    if (node.error && byPath[node.fullKey] === undefined) byPath[node.fullKey] = node.error
+    for (const child of node.children ?? []) recurse(child)
+  }
+  recurse(root)
+  return byPath
+}
 
-  if (node.skeleton.required) out.required = true
-  if (node.options.readOnly) out.readOnly = true
-  if (node.modified) out.modified = true
-  if (isItemsLayout(node.layout, statefulLayout.compiledLayout.components)) out.getSuggestions = true
+/**
+ * A node whose value is picked as a whole from getItems (a select or an autocomplete over
+ * objects) declares properties that are not nodes of the form: it is filled from
+ * getFieldSuggestions, never field by field. A list is itemsBased too, but its items do
+ * become real nodes, so its declared fields remain useful.
+ * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node
+ * @param {import('../state/index.js').StatefulLayout} statefulLayout
+ * @returns {boolean}
+ */
+function isValuePickedFromItems (node, statefulLayout) {
+  if (node.layout.comp === 'list') return false
+  return isItemsLayout(node.layout, statefulLayout.compiledLayout.components)
+}
 
-  const keys = getConstraintKeys(node.layout.comp)
-  if (keys) {
-    /** @type {Record<string, unknown>} */
-    const constraints = {}
-    for (const k of keys) {
-      const v = layout[k]
-      if (v !== undefined && v !== null) constraints[k] = v
-    }
-    if (Object.keys(constraints).length > 0) out.constraints = constraints
-  }
+/**
+ * Whether this field's options cannot be fetched yet because the request that would
+ * produce them cannot be built.
+ *
+ * The state layer resolves a remote list's URL up front and stores it as `itemsCacheKey`;
+ * when the expression THROWS — because it reads a field nobody has filled in — the key is
+ * null. That is a different situation from "your query matched nothing" and from "this
+ * field has no list", and all three used to arrive as the same four words. The review that
+ * prompted this put 45% of the option lists across thirty real applications in this state
+ * until some other field is written first, so it is the common case, not an edge.
+ * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node
+ * @returns {boolean}
+ */
+export function suggestionsBlocked (node) {
+  return node.itemsCacheKey === null
+}
 
-  if (node.layout.comp === 'one-of-select' && Array.isArray(layout.oneOfItems)) {
-    out.variants = layout.oneOfItems
-      .filter((item) => !item.header)
-      .map((item) => ({ index: item.key, title: item.title }))
-    // find selected variant
-    const selected = layout.oneOfItems.find((item) => item.selected)
-    if (selected) out.selectedVariant = selected.key
-  }
+/**
+ * The expression a blocked list is waiting on, so the answer can say what to go and set.
+ * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node
+ * @returns {string|undefined}
+ */
+export function suggestionsSource (node) {
+  const getItems = /** @type {any} */(node.layout).getItems
+  const expr = getItems?.url?.expr ?? getItems?.expr
+  return typeof expr === 'string' ? expr : undefined
+}
 
-  if (node.children) {
-    out.children = node.children
-      .filter((c) => c.layout.comp !== 'none')
-      .map(node => projectNode(node, statefulLayout))
-  }
+/**
+ * Whether this node can actually answer getFieldSuggestions.
+ *
+ * isItemsLayout only says the component KIND is items-based; it is true of a plain array
+ * of strings, which renders as a combobox and has no source of items at all. The state
+ * layer asks a stricter question — state-node.js gates prefetching on
+ * `layout.items || layout.getItems`, and index.js throws "missing items or getItems
+ * parameters" when neither produces any — so announcing the flag on kind alone promises
+ * the agent something the tool cannot deliver. The fill-form guide tells agents they MUST
+ * call getFieldSuggestions whenever they see the flag, so they obey and hit that error.
+ * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node
+ * @param {import('../state/index.js').StatefulLayout} statefulLayout
+ * @returns {boolean}
+ */
+function hasSuggestions (node, statefulLayout) {
+  if (!isItemsLayout(node.layout, statefulLayout.compiledLayout.components)) return false
+  return !!(node.layout.items ?? node.layout.getItems)
+}
 
-  return out
+/**
+ * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node
+ * @param {Record<string, string>} [errorsByPath]
+ * @returns {string|undefined}
+ */
+function nodeError (node, errorsByPath) {
+  return node.error ?? errorsByPath?.[node.fullKey]
 }
 
 /**
@@ -132,42 +349,36 @@ export function projectFieldResult (node, statefulLayout) {
     type: compToType[node.layout.comp] || node.layout.comp,
     data: node.data
   }
-  if (node.error) out.error = node.error
+  const error = nodeError(node, indexErrorsByPath(statefulLayout.stateTree.root))
+  if (error) out.error = error
   return out
 }
 
-/**
- * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateTree} stateTree
- * @param {import('../state/index.js').StatefulLayout} statefulLayout
- * @returns {{ root: ProjectedNode, valid: boolean }}
- */
-export function projectStateTree (stateTree, statefulLayout) {
-  return {
-    root: projectNode(stateTree.root, statefulLayout),
-    valid: stateTree.valid
-  }
-}
-
 /**
  * Format a projected node as a markdown line for LLM-readable output.
  * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node
  * @param {import('../state/index.js').StatefulLayout} statefulLayout
  * @param {number} [depth]
+ * @param {Record<string, string>} [errorsByPath] - computed on the root node when not given
+ * @param {import('./variants-memo.js').VariantsMemo} [variantsMemo] - when given, a variant
+ * list already printed for the same schema node is replaced by a pointer back to it
  * @returns {string}
  */
-export function projectNodeToMarkdown (node, statefulLayout, depth = 0) {
+export function projectNodeToMarkdown (node, statefulLayout, depth = 0, errorsByPath = indexErrorsByPath(statefulLayout.stateTree.root), variantsMemo) {
   const indent = '  '.repeat(depth)
   const type = compToType[node.layout.comp] || node.layout.comp
   const layout = /** @type {Record<string, unknown>} */(node.layout)
 
   // build metadata tags
   const meta = [type]
+  const error = nodeError(node, errorsByPath)
   if (node.skeleton.required) meta.push('required')
-  if (node.options.readOnly) meta.push('readOnly')
-  if (node.error) meta.push('error')
+  if (isReadOnly(node, statefulLayout)) meta.push('readOnly')
+  if (error) meta.push('error')
   if (node.modified) meta.push('modified')
 
-  // constraints
+  // constraints, from the layout for what the component renders and from the skeleton for
+  // what ajv enforces but nothing else would say — a precompiled layout has no raw schema
   const keys = getConstraintKeys(node.layout.comp)
   if (keys) {
     for (const k of keys) {
@@ -175,6 +386,9 @@ export function projectNodeToMarkdown (node, statefulLayout, depth = 0) {
       if (v !== undefined && v !== null) meta.push(`${k}=${v}`)
     }
   }
+  for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(node.skeleton.constraints ?? {})) {
+    meta.push(`${k}=${typeof v === 'string' ? v : JSON.stringify(v)}`)
+  }
 
   // variants
   if (node.layout.comp === 'one-of-select' && Array.isArray(layout.oneOfItems)) {
@@ -182,7 +396,16 @@ export function projectNodeToMarkdown (node, statefulLayout, depth = 0) {
     if (selected) meta.push(`selected=${selected.key}`)
   }
 
-  if (isItemsLayout(node.layout, statefulLayout.compiledLayout.components)) meta.push('suggestions')
+  if (hasSuggestions(node, statefulLayout)) {
+    // a closed list is stated, not advertised: the guide tells the agent it must fetch
+    // whatever is flagged, so flagging what is already known is what bought the round trip
+    const inlined = inlineItems(node)
+    if (inlined) meta.push(`values=${inlined}`)
+    // and a list that cannot be fetched yet says so here, before the agent spends a call
+    // finding out — the answer it would get names no cause it could act on
+    else if (suggestionsBlocked(node)) meta.push('suggestions once another field is set')
+    else meta.push('suggestions')
+  }
 
   // array item count
   if (node.layout.comp === 'list' && Array.isArray(node.data)) {
@@ -195,28 +418,57 @@ export function projectNodeToMarkdown (node, statefulLayout, depth = 0) {
   if (typeof layout.label === 'string') line += ` label="${layout.label}"`
   else if (typeof layout.title === 'string') line += ` title="${layout.title}"`
 
+  const children = visibleChildren(node)
+
   // value for leaf nodes (no children or empty children)
-  if (!node.children || node.children.length === 0) {
-    line += ` value=${JSON.stringify(node.data)}`
+  if (children.length === 0) {
+    line += ` value=${abbreviateValue(node.data)}`
+  }
+
+  // Help is the guidance a model cannot infer — that a negative height means automatic
+  // sizing, say. Long help is named rather than printed unless this node is the one that
+  // was asked about.
+  if (typeof node.layout.help === 'string' && node.layout.help) {
+    const help = helpToText(node.layout.help)
+    if (help.length <= HELP_MAX_LENGTH || depth === 0) line += ` help="${help}"`
+    else if (help) line += ` help=<${help.length} chars — describeState ${path} to read it>`
   }
 
-  if (node.error) line += ` — ${node.error}`
+  if (error) line += ` — ${error}`
 
   const lines = [line]
 
   // variants list
   if (node.layout.comp === 'one-of-select' && Array.isArray(layout.oneOfItems)) {
     const variants = layout.oneOfItems.filter((item) => !item.header)
-    for (const v of variants) {
-      lines.push(`${indent}  - variant ${v.key}: ${v.title}`)
+    const listedAt = variantsMemo?.listedAt(node.skeleton.pointer)
+    if (listedAt === undefined) {
+      variantsMemo?.record(node.skeleton.pointer, path)
+      for (const v of variants) {
+        lines.push(`${indent}  - variant ${v.key}: ${v.title}`)
+      }
+    } else {
+      // a recursive schema reaches the same union at many paths; the list is a constant,
+      // so name where it was given rather than repeat it
+      lines.push(`${indent}  - ${variants.length} variants, the same list already given for ${listedAt} — call describeState on ${path} to see them again`)
     }
   }
 
   // recurse children
-  if (node.children) {
-    for (const child of node.children) {
-      if (child.layout.comp === 'none') continue
-      lines.push(projectNodeToMarkdown(child, statefulLayout, depth + 1))
+  for (const child of children) {
+    lines.push(projectNodeToMarkdown(child, statefulLayout, depth + 1, errorsByPath, variantsMemo))
+  }
+
+  // fields known from the skeleton but not hydrated in the state tree, skipped on a node fed by
+  // getItems: its properties are not separate nodes, it is filled from getFieldSuggestions
+  if (children.length === 0 && node.skeleton.children?.length &&
+    !isValuePickedFromItems(node, statefulLayout)) {
+    for (const field of projectDeclaredFields(node, statefulLayout)) {
+      const fieldMeta = ['declared']
+      if (field.type) fieldMeta.unshift(field.type)
+      if (field.required) fieldMeta.push('required')
+      if (field.enum) fieldMeta.push(`enum=${JSON.stringify(field.enum)}`)
+      lines.push(`${indent}  - ${field.path} (${fieldMeta.join(', ')})`)
     }
   }
 
@@ -227,10 +479,11 @@ export function projectNodeToMarkdown (node, statefulLayout, depth = 0) {
  * Format a state tree as markdown for LLM-readable output.
  * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateTree} stateTree
  * @param {import('../state/index.js').StatefulLayout} statefulLayout
+ * @param {import('./variants-memo.js').VariantsMemo} [variantsMemo]
  * @returns {string}
  */
-export function projectStateTreeToMarkdown (stateTree, statefulLayout) {
-  const errors = collectErrors(stateTree.root)
+export function projectStateTreeToMarkdown (stateTree, statefulLayout, variantsMemo) {
+  const errors = collectErrors(statefulLayout)
   const validLine = stateTree.valid
     ? 'valid: true, no errors'
     : `valid: false, ${errors.length} error(s)`
@@ -246,7 +499,7 @@ export function projectStateTreeToMarkdown (stateTree, statefulLayout) {
   }
 
   lines.push('Fields:')
-  lines.push(projectNodeToMarkdown(stateTree.root, statefulLayout, 0))
+  lines.push(projectNodeToMarkdown(stateTree.root, statefulLayout, 0, undefined, variantsMemo))
 
   return lines.join('\n')
 }
@@ -254,14 +507,34 @@ export function projectStateTreeToMarkdown (stateTree, statefulLayout) {
 /**
  * Format a mutation result as concise text for LLM-readable output.
  * @param {boolean} valid
- * @param {Array<{path: string, message: string}>} errors
+ * @param {Array<{path: string, message: string}>} errors - errors of the mutated subtree
  * @param {string} [prefix] - optional prefix line (e.g. field info)
+ * @param {number} [otherErrors] - number of errors of the form outside of the mutated subtree
  * @returns {string}
  */
-export function formatMutationResult (valid, errors, prefix) {
+export function formatMutationResult (valid, errors, prefix, otherErrors) {
   const lines = []
   if (prefix) lines.push(prefix)
 
+  // scoped mode, the errors are the ones of the mutated subtree only
+  if (otherErrors !== undefined) {
+    if (errors.length === 0) lines.push('no error here')
+    else {
+      lines.push(`${errors.length} error(s) here:`)
+      for (const e of errors) {
+        lines.push(`- ${e.path}: ${e.message}`)
+      }
+    }
+    if (otherErrors > 0) {
+      lines.push(`form has ${otherErrors} other error(s) elsewhere, use describeState to list them`)
+    } else if (!valid) {
+      lines.push('form is invalid')
+    } else {
+      lines.push('form is valid')
+    }
+    return lines.join('\n')
+  }
+
   if (valid) {
     lines.push('valid, no errors')
   } else {
@@ -278,46 +551,141 @@ export function formatMutationResult (valid, errors, prefix) {
 }
 
 /**
- * Format field suggestions as markdown for LLM-readable output.
+ * @typedef {{index: number, title: string, key?: string, value?: unknown, valueOmitted?: boolean, valueLength?: number}} ProjectedSuggestion
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Project suggestions for the tools output: anything but a short scalar is identified by
+ * its title and key alone, and referred to by index instead of copied around.
  * @param {Array<{value: unknown, title: string, key?: string}>} items
+ * @param {number} [baseIndex] - index of the first item, as the store assigned it
+ * @returns {ProjectedSuggestion[]}
+ */
+export function projectSuggestions (items, baseIndex = 0) {
+  return items.map((item, index) => {
+    /** @type {ProjectedSuggestion} */
+    const out = { index: baseIndex + index, title: item.title }
+    if (item.key !== undefined && item.key !== item.title) out.key = item.key
+    const json = JSON.stringify(item.value)
+    if (json === undefined) return out
+    // Short scalars stay: agents batch those straight into setData rather than spending a
+    // round-trip applying an index. Anything else is identified by its title and key, and
+    // applied by index — the value itself never has to reach the agent.
+    const isScalar = item.value === null || ['string', 'number', 'boolean'].includes(typeof item.value)
+    if (isScalar && json.length <= SUGGESTION_VALUE_MAX_LENGTH) {
+      out.value = item.value
+    } else {
+      out.valueOmitted = true
+      out.valueLength = json.length
+    }
+    return out
+  })
+}
+
+/**
+ * Format field suggestions as markdown for LLM-readable output.
+ * @param {ProjectedSuggestion[]} suggestions
+ * @param {string} [blockedOn] - the expression the list is waiting on, when it has one
  * @returns {string}
  */
-export function formatSuggestions (items) {
-  if (items.length === 0) return 'No suggestions available'
-  const lines = ['Suggestions (use the value with setFieldValue or setData):']
-  for (const item of items) {
-    const val = JSON.stringify(item.value)
-    if (item.key && item.key !== item.title) {
-      lines.push(`- value=${val} — ${item.title} (${item.key})`)
+export function formatSuggestions (suggestions, blockedOn) {
+  if (suggestions.length === 0) {
+    if (blockedOn) return `No options yet: this field's list comes from \`${blockedOn}\`, and that cannot be resolved until the data it reads is set. Fill that field first, then ask again.`
+    return 'No option matched. The list exists but nothing came back for this query — try a broader one, or omit the query to see what there is.'
+  }
+  const lines = [`${suggestions.length} suggestion(s), apply one with setFieldValue and its suggestionIndex (or copy a short value):`]
+  for (const suggestion of suggestions) {
+    const title = suggestion.key ? `${suggestion.title} (${suggestion.key})` : suggestion.title
+    if (suggestion.valueOmitted) {
+      lines.push(`- [${suggestion.index}] ${title} — apply with suggestionIndex=${suggestion.index}`)
     } else {
-      lines.push(`- value=${val} — ${item.title}`)
+      lines.push(`- [${suggestion.index}] ${title} — value=${JSON.stringify(suggestion.value)}`)
     }
   }
   return lines.join('\n')
 }
 
 /**
- * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node
+ * The data pointer an ajv error applies to.
+ *
+ * ajv-errors wraps the original error, and a `required` error reports the parent's
+ * pointer with the missing key in its params — so the naive instancePath would be the
+ * object, not the field.
+ * @param {any} error
+ * @returns {string}
+ */
+function dataPointerOf (error) {
+  const original = error?.params?.errors?.[0] ?? error
+  if (original?.keyword === 'required' && original.params?.missingProperty) {
+    return `${original.instancePath}/${original.params.missingProperty}`
+  }
+  return original?.instancePath ?? ''
+}
+
+/**
+ * Errors of the whole form, each named by the location it actually applies to.
+ *
+ * A node only carries an error while it is hydrated. A list shows its items in summary
+ * mode, so nothing below an unedited item exists as a node, and every error under it
+ * collapses onto the list — one message, on a path that is not the faulty one. An agent
+ * told "/sections must be integer" knows it is wrong and not where, and retries blind.
+ *
+ * So a node error that is standing in for deeper errors nobody names is replaced by
+ * those errors, addressed by data pointer. Errors a hydrated node does name keep their
+ * form path, which is what the mutation tools expect.
+ * @param {import('../state/index.js').StatefulLayout} statefulLayout
  * @returns {Array<{path: string, message: string}>}
  */
-export function collectErrors (node) {
+export function collectErrors (statefulLayout) {
+  /** @type {Array<{fullKey: string, dataPath: string, message: string}>} */
+  const nodeErrors = []
+  /** @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node */
+  const recurse = (node) => {
+    if (node.error) nodeErrors.push({ fullKey: node.fullKey, dataPath: node.dataPath, message: node.error })
+    // all children, not visibleChildren: in "menu"/"dialog" list edit modes the two
+    // occurrences of an activated item do not carry the same errors, and deduplicating
+    // here silently drops them (verified: 2 errors became 0).
+    for (const child of node.children ?? []) recurse(child)
+  }
+  recurse(statefulLayout.stateTree.root)
+
+  const named = new Set(nodeErrors.map((e) => e.dataPath))
+  const unnamed = statefulLayout.validationErrors
+    .map((error) => ({ pointer: dataPointerOf(error), message: error.message ?? 'invalid' }))
+    .filter((error) => !named.has(error.pointer))
+
   /** @type {Array<{path: string, message: string}>} */
   const errors = []
-  collectErrorsRecurse(node, errors)
+  for (const nodeError of nodeErrors) {
+    const prefix = nodeError.dataPath === '' ? '/' : `${nodeError.dataPath}/`
+    const standsInForDeeperErrors = unnamed.some((e) => e.pointer.startsWith(prefix))
+    if (!standsInForDeeperErrors) errors.push({ path: nodeError.fullKey, message: nodeError.message })
+  }
+  for (const error of unnamed) errors.push({ path: error.pointer, message: error.message })
   return errors
 }
 
 /**
+ * Errors of the subtree of a node, and count of the errors of the rest of the form.
+ * @param {import('../state/index.js').StatefulLayout} statefulLayout
  * @param {import('../state/types.js').StateNode} node
- * @param {Array<{path: string, message: string}>} errors
+ * @returns {{ errors: Array<{path: string, message: string}>, otherErrors: number }}
  */
-function collectErrorsRecurse (node, errors) {
-  if (node.error) {
-    errors.push({ path: node.fullKey, message: node.error })
-  }
-  if (node.children) {
-    for (const child of node.children) {
-      collectErrorsRecurse(child, errors)
-    }
+export function collectScopedErrors (statefulLayout, node) {
+  // the path index is used rather than a walk of the subtree: an activated list item is kept
+  // twice and the tools resolve to the editable occurrence, which carries no error at all,
+  // neither on the item nor on anything below it. Indexing by path merges the two.
+  const errorsByPath = indexErrorsByPath(statefulLayout.stateTree.root)
+  const prefix = node.fullKey
+  const isInScope = (/** @type {string} */path) =>
+    prefix === '' || path === prefix || path.startsWith(`${prefix}/`)
+
+  /** @type {Array<{path: string, message: string}>} */
+  const errors = []
+  let otherErrors = 0
+  for (const [path, message] of Object.entries(errorsByPath)) {
+    if (isInScope(path)) errors.push({ path, message })
+    else otherErrors++
   }
+  return { errors, otherErrors }
 }