ei-tui 0.8.0 → 0.9.0

package/README.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ A local-first AI companion system with persistent personas and coding tool integ
 
 You can access the Web version at [ei.flare576.com](https://ei.flare576.com).
 
-You can install the local version via `npm install -g ei-tui` (see [### TUI](#tui) for details).
+You can run the local version via `bunx ei-tui` — no install needed, always current (see [### TUI](#tui) for details).
 
 If you're here to give your coding tools (OpenCode, Claude Code, Cursor) persistent memory, jump over to [TUI README.md](./tui/README.md) to learn how to get information _into_ Ei, and [CLI README.md](./src/cli/README.md) to get it back _out_.
 
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ Unless you enable Syncing, that's where it stays.
 
 If you have a local LLM, literally no data leaves your system(s) by default. If you don't, you'll need to provide an LLM for Ei to use. I tried to make that as easy as possible via adding Providers via API Key.
 
+> **One honest note**: the first time you load Ei in a browser, it downloads the embedding library and model weights from public CDNs (jsdelivr, HuggingFace). Those CDNs see your IP address — but not your data. All embedding runs locally in your browser after that first download. The TUI version caches everything on first run and is fully offline after. Additionally, the same is true for my webhost - it must see your IP address to serve you assets, but no analytics, reports, metrics, etc. are done on them.
+
 There's no other usage, debugging, analytics, tracking, or history information stored or transmitted - anonymized or otherwise.
 
 If there's a problem with the system, you need to tell me here on GitHub, or on Bluesky, or Discord, or whatever. There's no "report a bug" button, no "DONATE" link in the app.
@@ -110,15 +112,16 @@ More information can be found in the [Web Readme](web/README.md)
 # Install Bun (if you don't have it)
 curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash
 
-# Install Ei
-npm install -g ei-tui
-```
+# Run Ei — no install needed, always the latest version
+bunx ei-tui
 
-When you install Ei, you pull down this package and it's dependencies.
+# Or, if you use it as much as I do, add this to your profile!
+alias ei='bunx ei-tui'
+```
 
 If you have a Local LLM, that's the first and last set of signals that leave your machine for Ei unless you tell it otherwise.
 
-Regardless, Running `ei` pops open the TUI interface and, just like on the web, all messages and summary requests flow to your LLM provider, but the core data stays on your device.
+Regardless, running `ei` (or `bunx ei-tui`) pops open the TUI interface and, just like on the web, all messages and summary requests flow to your LLM provider, but the core data stays on your device.
 
 More information (including commands) can be found in the [TUI Readme](tui/README.md)
 

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "ei-tui",
-  "version": "0.8.0",
+  "version": "0.9.0",
   "author": "Flare576",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",

package/src/cli/mcp.ts

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ export function createMcpServer(): McpServer {
           .string()
           .optional()
           .describe(
-            "Filter to entities from a specific source. Prefix match against namespaced source identifiers (e.g. 'cursor', 'opencode', 'opencode:ses_abc123')."
+            "Filter to entities from a specific source. Prefix match against namespaced source identifiers (e.g. 'cursor', 'opencode', 'opencode:my-machine', 'opencode:my-machine:ses_abc123')."
           ),
         limit: z
           .number()
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ export function createMcpServer(): McpServer {
           .string()
           .optional()
           .describe(
-            "Filter to entities from a specific source. Prefix match against namespaced source identifiers (e.g. 'cursor', 'opencode', 'opencode:ses_abc123'). If the entity does not match, returns not found."
+            "Filter to entities from a specific source. Prefix match against namespaced source identifiers (e.g. 'cursor', 'opencode', 'opencode:my-machine', 'opencode:my-machine:ses_abc123'). If the entity does not match, returns not found."
           ),
       },
     },

package/src/cli.ts

@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ Options:
   --number, -n     Maximum number of results (default: 10)
   --recent, -r     Sort by last_mentioned date (most recent first)
   --persona, -p    Filter to entities a specific persona has learned about
-  --source, -s     Filter to entities from a specific source (prefix match, e.g. "cursor", "opencode:ses_abc123")
+  --source, -s     Filter to entities from a specific source (prefix match, e.g. "cursor", "opencode:my-machine", "opencode:my-machine:ses_abc123")
   --id             Look up entity by ID (accepts value or stdin)
   --install        Register Ei with OpenCode, Claude Code, and Cursor
   --help, -h       Show this help message

package/src/core/handlers/heartbeat.ts

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
 } from "../types.js";
 import type { StateManager } from "../state-manager.js";
 import type { HeartbeatCheckResult, EiHeartbeatResult } from "../../prompts/heartbeat/types.js";
+import type { ReflectionCriticResult } from "../../prompts/reflection/types.js";
 import { crossFind } from "../utils/index.js";
 
 export function handleHeartbeatCheck(response: LLMResponse, state: StateManager): void {
@@ -27,11 +28,6 @@ export function handleHeartbeatCheck(response: LLMResponse, state: StateManager)
   state.persona_update(personaId, { last_heartbeat: now });
   state.queue_clearPersonaResponses(personaId, LLMNextStep.HandleHeartbeatCheck);
 
-  if (result.mentioned_reflection === true) {
-    state.persona_update(personaId, { reflection_last_asked: now });
-    console.log(`[HeartbeatCheck ${personaDisplayName}] Persona surfaced identity drift - reflection_last_asked set`);
-  }
-
   if (!result.should_respond) {
     console.log(`[HeartbeatCheck ${personaDisplayName}] Chose not to reach out (should_respond=false)`);
     return;
@@ -41,7 +37,7 @@ export function handleHeartbeatCheck(response: LLMResponse, state: StateManager)
     const message: Message = {
       id: crypto.randomUUID(),
       role: "system",
-      verbal_response: result.message,
+      content: result.message,
       timestamp: now,
       read: false,
       context_status: ContextStatus.Default,
@@ -74,10 +70,10 @@ export function handleEiHeartbeat(response: LLMResponse, state: StateManager): v
     return;
   }
 
-  const sendMessage = (verbal_response: string) => state.messages_append("ei", {
+  const sendMessage = (content: string) => state.messages_append("ei", {
     id: crypto.randomUUID(),
     role: "system",
-    verbal_response,
+    content,
     timestamp: now,
     read: false,
     context_status: ContextStatus.Default,
@@ -124,3 +120,62 @@ export function handleEiHeartbeat(response: LLMResponse, state: StateManager): v
     }
   }
 }
+
+export function handleReflectionCritic(response: LLMResponse, state: StateManager): void {
+  const personaId = response.request.data.personaId as string;
+  const personaDisplayName = response.request.data.personaDisplayName as string;
+
+  const result = response.parsed as ReflectionCriticResult | undefined;
+  if (!result?.updated_identity || !result.critique) {
+    console.error(`[ReflectionCritic ${personaDisplayName}] Invalid or missing parsed result`);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const personRecord = state.human_person_getByIdentifier("Ei Persona", personaId);
+  if (personRecord) {
+    state.human_person_upsert({
+      ...personRecord,
+      description: result.updated_identity.long_description,
+    });
+    console.log(`[ReflectionCritic ${personaDisplayName}] Person record description replaced (was log, now distilled identity)`);
+  }
+
+  const persona = state.persona_getById(personaId);
+  if (!persona) {
+    console.error(`[ReflectionCritic ${personaDisplayName}] Persona not found after critic`);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const mergedTopics = result.updated_identity.topics.map(updatedTopic => {
+    const existing = persona.topics.find(t => t.name === updatedTopic.name);
+    return {
+      ...updatedTopic,
+      sentiment: updatedTopic.sentiment ?? existing?.sentiment ?? 0,
+      exposure_current: updatedTopic.exposure_current ?? existing?.exposure_current ?? 0,
+      exposure_desired: updatedTopic.exposure_desired ?? existing?.exposure_desired ?? 0.5,
+    };
+  });
+
+  const sanitizedTraits = result.updated_identity.traits.map(t => ({
+    ...t,
+    name: t.name?.trim() ?? "",
+    description: t.description?.trim() ?? "",
+  }));
+
+  const sanitizedTopics = mergedTopics.map(t => ({
+    ...t,
+    name: t.name?.trim() ?? "",
+  }));
+
+  state.persona_update(personaId, {
+    pending_update: {
+      short_description: result.updated_identity.short_description?.trim() ?? "",
+      long_description: result.updated_identity.long_description?.trim() ?? "",
+      traits: sanitizedTraits,
+      topics: sanitizedTopics,
+      critique: result.critique,
+      created_at: new Date().toISOString(),
+    },
+  });
+  console.log(`[ReflectionCritic ${personaDisplayName}] pending_update written to persona`);
+}

package/src/core/handlers/index.ts

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import type { PersonIdentifier } from "../types/data-items.js";
 export type { ResponseHandler } from "./persona-response.js";
 
 import { handlePersonaResponse, handleToolContinuation, handleOneShot, handleOneShotJSON } from "./persona-response.js";
-import { handleHeartbeatCheck, handleEiHeartbeat } from "./heartbeat.js";
+import { handleHeartbeatCheck, handleEiHeartbeat, handleReflectionCritic } from "./heartbeat.js";
 import { handlePersonaGeneration, handlePersonaDescriptions, handlePersonaTraitExtraction } from "./persona-generation.js";
 import {
   handlePersonaTopicRating,
@@ -90,4 +90,5 @@ export const handlers: Record<LLMNextStep, ResponseHandler> = {
   handlePersonaPreview,
   [LLMNextStep.HandlePersonIdentifierMigration]: handlePersonIdentifierMigration,
   [LLMNextStep.HandleTopicValidate]: handleDedupCurate,
+  [LLMNextStep.HandleReflectionCritic]: handleReflectionCritic,
 };

package/src/core/handlers/persona-response.ts

@@ -76,10 +76,9 @@ export function handlePersonaResponse(response: LLMResponse, state: StateManager
       return;
     }
 
-    const verbal = result.verbal_response || undefined;
-    const action = result.action_response || undefined;
+    const content = result.content || undefined;
 
-    if (!verbal && !action) {
+    if (!content) {
       console.log(`[handlePersonaResponse] ${personaDisplayName} JSON had should_respond=true but no content fields`);
       return;
     }
@@ -87,8 +86,7 @@ export function handlePersonaResponse(response: LLMResponse, state: StateManager
     const message: Message = {
       id: crypto.randomUUID(),
       role: "system",
-      verbal_response: verbal,
-      action_response: action,
+      content,
       timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
       read: false,
       context_status: ContextStatus.Default,

package/src/core/handlers/rooms.ts

@@ -81,10 +81,9 @@ export function handleRoomResponse(response: LLMResponse, state: StateManager):
       return;
     }
 
-    const verbal = result.verbal_response || undefined;
-    const action = result.action_response || undefined;
+    const content = result.content || undefined;
 
-    if (!verbal && !action) {
+    if (!content) {
       console.log(`[handleRoomResponse] ${personaDisplayName} returned should_respond=true but no content`);
       return;
     }
@@ -94,8 +93,7 @@ export function handleRoomResponse(response: LLMResponse, state: StateManager):
       parent_id: parentMessageId,
       role: "persona",
       persona_id: personaId,
-      verbal_response: verbal,
-      action_response: action,
+      content,
       timestamp: now,
       read: false,
       context_status: ContextStatus.Default,

package/src/core/handlers/utils.ts

@@ -3,9 +3,12 @@ import type { StateManager } from "../state-manager.js";
 
 export function getMessageContent(msg: { content?: string; verbal_response?: string; action_response?: string }): string {
   if (msg.content) return msg.content;
+  // Legacy fallback for data not yet migrated on disk
+  // TODO(v1.0.0): Remove legacy verbal_response/action_response fallback
+  const legacy = msg as { verbal_response?: string; action_response?: string };
   const parts: string[] = [];
-  if (msg.action_response) parts.push(`_${msg.action_response}_`);
-  if (msg.verbal_response) parts.push(msg.verbal_response);
+  if (legacy.action_response) parts.push(`_${legacy.action_response}_`);
+  if (legacy.verbal_response) parts.push(legacy.verbal_response);
   return parts.join('\n\n');
 }
 
@@ -24,8 +27,6 @@ export function normalizeRoomMessages(messages: RoomMessage[], state: StateManag
       role: m.role === "human" ? "human" as const : "system" as const,
       speaker_name: speakerName,
       content: m.content,
-      verbal_response: m.verbal_response,
-      action_response: m.action_response,
       silence_reason: m.silence_reason,
       timestamp: m.timestamp,
       read: m.read,

package/src/core/heartbeat-manager.ts

@@ -16,10 +16,6 @@ import {
 } from "../prompts/index.js";
 import { filterMessagesForContext } from "./context-utils.js";
 import { filterHumanDataByVisibility } from "./prompt-context-builder.js";
-import { cosineSimilarity, computePersonaDescriptionEmbedding } from "./embedding-service.js";
-
-const REFLECTION_SIMILARITY_THRESHOLD = 0.80;
-const REFLECTION_COOLDOWN_MS = 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000; // 1 week between drift prompts
 
 // =============================================================================
 // MODEL HELPERS
@@ -172,6 +168,18 @@ export async function queueEiHeartbeat(
     });
   }
 
+  const personasWithPendingUpdate = personas.filter(
+    (p) => !p.is_archived && !p.is_paused && p.id !== "ei" && p.pending_update?.critique
+  );
+  for (const p of personasWithPendingUpdate) {
+    items.push({
+      id: p.id,
+      type: "Persona Reflection Alert",
+      persona_name: p.display_name,
+      critique: p.pending_update!.critique,
+    });
+  }
+
   if (items.length === 0) {
     console.log("[queueEiHeartbeat] No items to address, skipping");
     return;
@@ -218,10 +226,9 @@ export async function queueHeartbeatCheck(sm: StateManager, personaId: string, i
   }
 
   const filteredHuman = await filterHumanDataByVisibility(human, persona);
-  const inactiveDays = persona.last_activity
-    ? Math.floor(
-        (Date.now() - new Date(persona.last_activity).getTime()) / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24)
-      )
+  const lastActivity = sm.messages_getLastActivity(persona.id);
+  const inactiveDays = lastActivity
+    ? Math.floor((Date.now() - lastActivity) / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24))
     : 0;
 
   const sortByEngagementGap = <T extends { exposure_desired: number; exposure_current: number }>(
@@ -232,49 +239,12 @@ export async function queueHeartbeatCheck(sm: StateManager, personaId: string, i
         b.exposure_desired - b.exposure_current - (a.exposure_desired - a.exposure_current)
     );
 
-  let driftContext: HeartbeatCheckPromptData["drift_context"];
-  const personRecord = sm.human_person_getByIdentifier("ei_persona", personaId);
-
-  if (personRecord?.embedding) {
-    let currentPersona = persona;
-
-    if (!currentPersona.description_embedding) {
-      const embedding = await computePersonaDescriptionEmbedding(currentPersona);
-      if (embedding) {
-        sm.persona_update(personaId, { description_embedding: embedding });
-        currentPersona = { ...currentPersona, description_embedding: embedding };
-      }
-    }
-
-    if (currentPersona.description_embedding) {
-      const lastAsked = currentPersona.reflection_last_asked
-        ? new Date(currentPersona.reflection_last_asked).getTime()
-        : 0;
-
-      // Gate: person must have been updated at least 1 week AFTER reflection was last asked.
-      // This handles both the cooldown AND the extraction echo — the ceremony extraction
-      // that fires right after a persona surfaces drift updates last_updated by minutes,
-      // which can never satisfy the 1-week offset requirement.
-      if (new Date(personRecord.last_updated).getTime() > lastAsked + REFLECTION_COOLDOWN_MS) {
-        const similarity = cosineSimilarity(personRecord.embedding, currentPersona.description_embedding);
-        if (similarity < REFLECTION_SIMILARITY_THRESHOLD) {
-          driftContext = {
-            people_description: personRecord.description ?? '',
-            persona_description: currentPersona.long_description ?? '',
-          };
-          console.log(`[HeartbeatCheck ${persona.display_name}] Drift detected (similarity: ${similarity.toFixed(3)}) - including reflection context`);
-        } else {
-          console.log(`[HeartbeatCheck ${persona.display_name}] Person updated but no drift (similarity: ${similarity.toFixed(3)})`);
-        }
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
   const promptData: HeartbeatCheckPromptData = {
     persona: {
       name: persona.display_name,
       traits: persona.traits,
       topics: persona.topics,
+      has_pending_update: !!persona.pending_update,
     },
     human: {
       topics: sortByEngagementGap(filteredHuman.topics).slice(0, 5),
@@ -282,7 +252,6 @@ export async function queueHeartbeatCheck(sm: StateManager, personaId: string, i
     },
     recent_history: contextHistory.slice(-10),
     inactive_days: inactiveDays,
-    drift_context: driftContext,
   };
 
   const prompt = buildHeartbeatCheckPrompt(promptData);

package/src/core/message-manager.ts

@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ export async function sendMessage(
   const message: Message = {
     id: crypto.randomUUID(),
     role: "human",
-    verbal_response: content ?? undefined,
+    content: content ?? undefined,
     silence_reason: content ? undefined : (silenceReason ?? "passed"),
     timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
     read: false,
@@ -283,8 +283,12 @@ export function fetchMessagesForLLM(
    const contextWindowHours = persona.context_window_hours ?? human.settings?.default_context_window_hours ?? 8;
    const filteredHistory = filterMessagesForContext(history, persona.context_boundary, contextWindowHours);
 
+  const humanName = human.settings?.name_display
+    || human.facts?.find(f => f.name === "Nickname/Preferred Name")?.description
+    || "Human";
+
   return filteredHistory.reduce<import("./types.js").ChatMessage[]>((acc, m) => {
-    const content = buildChatMessageContent(m);
+    const content = buildChatMessageContent(m, humanName);
     if (content.length > 0) {
       const finalContent = persona.include_message_timestamps ? `[${formatTimestamp(m.timestamp)}] ${content}` : content;
       acc.push({

package/src/core/orchestrators/ceremony.ts

@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ import {
 import { queuePersonaTopicRating, type PersonaTopicContext, type PersonaTopicOptions } from "./persona-topics.js";
 import { queuePersonMigration } from "./person-migration.js";
 import { buildRewriteScanPrompt, type RewriteItemType } from "../../prompts/ceremony/index.js";
+import { buildReflectionCriticPrompt } from "../../prompts/reflection/index.js";
+import { getModelForPersona } from "../heartbeat-manager.js";
+
+const PERSON_LOG_REFLECTION_THRESHOLD = 3000;
 
 export function isNewDay(lastCeremony: string | undefined, now: Date): boolean {
   if (!lastCeremony) return true;
@@ -143,10 +147,8 @@ function queueExposurePhase(personaId: string, state: StateManager, options?: Ex
     console.log(`[ceremony:exposure] Queued human extraction scans (f:${unextractedFacts.length}, t:${unextractedTopics.length}, p:${unextractedPeople.length})`);
   }
 
-  const human = state.getHuman();
-  const lastCeremony = human.settings?.ceremony?.last_ceremony;
   const shortId = personaId.slice(0, 8);
-  const forPersonaTopics = state.messages_getUnextractedForPersona(personaId, shortId, lastCeremony ?? undefined);
+  const forPersonaTopics = state.messages_getUnextractedForPersona(personaId, shortId);
   if (forPersonaTopics.length > 0) {
     const personaTopicContext: PersonaTopicContext = {
       personaId,
@@ -271,7 +273,10 @@ export function handleCeremonyProgress(state: StateManager, lastPhase: number):
 
   // Rewrite phase: fire-and-forget scans for bloated human data items
   queueRewritePhase(state);
-  
+
+  // Reflection phase: fire-and-forget critic calls for persona person records above threshold
+  queueReflectionPhase(state);
+
   console.log("[ceremony:progress] Ceremony Decay complete");
 }
 
@@ -507,3 +512,43 @@ function queueEventSummaryForAll(state: StateManager, options?: ExtractionOption
   }
   console.log(`[ceremony:event] Queued event summary scans for ${activePersonas.length} personas (${totalQueued} total chunks)`);
 }
+
+function queueReflectionPhase(state: StateManager): void {
+  const personas = state.persona_getAll().filter(p =>
+    !p.is_paused && !p.is_archived && !p.is_static && p.id !== "ei"
+  );
+
+  let queued = 0;
+  for (const persona of personas) {
+    const personRecord = state.human_person_getByIdentifier("Ei Persona", persona.id);
+    if (!personRecord || (personRecord.description?.length ?? 0) <= PERSON_LOG_REFLECTION_THRESHOLD) continue;
+
+    const prompt = buildReflectionCriticPrompt({
+      persona_identity: {
+        name: persona.display_name,
+        long_description: persona.long_description ?? '',
+        short_description: persona.short_description ?? '',
+        traits: persona.traits,
+        topics: persona.topics,
+      },
+      person_log: personRecord.description ?? '',
+    });
+
+    state.queue_enqueue({
+      type: LLMRequestType.JSON,
+      priority: LLMPriority.Low,
+      system: prompt.system,
+      user: prompt.user,
+      next_step: LLMNextStep.HandleReflectionCritic,
+      model: getModelForPersona(state, persona.id),
+      data: { personaId: persona.id, personaDisplayName: persona.display_name },
+    });
+
+    queued++;
+    console.log(`[ceremony:reflection] Queued critic for ${persona.display_name} (person log: ${personRecord.description?.length} chars)`);
+  }
+
+  if (queued === 0) {
+    console.log("[ceremony:reflection] No persona person records above threshold — skipping");
+  }
+}

package/src/core/orchestrators/human-extraction.ts

@@ -659,7 +659,7 @@ export function queueTargetedPersonUpdate(
       console.warn(`[queueTargetedPersonUpdate] Room ${roomId} not found`);
       return 0;
     }
-    allMessages = normalizeRoomMessages(state.getRoomActivePath(roomId), state);
+    allMessages = normalizeRoomMessages(state.getRoomMessages(roomId), state);
     contextPersonaId = room.persona_ids.join("|");
     displayName = room.display_name;
   } else {
@@ -719,7 +719,7 @@ export function queueTargetedTopicUpdate(
       console.warn(`[queueTargetedTopicUpdate] Room ${roomId} not found`);
       return 0;
     }
-    allMessages = normalizeRoomMessages(state.getRoomActivePath(roomId), state);
+    allMessages = normalizeRoomMessages(state.getRoomMessages(roomId), state);
     contextPersonaId = room.persona_ids.join("|");
     displayName = room.display_name;
   } else {

package/src/core/persona-manager.ts

@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ export async function getPersonaList(sm: StateManager): Promise<PersonaSummary[]
     is_paused: entity.is_paused,
     is_archived: entity.is_archived,
     unread_count: sm.messages_countUnread(entity.id),
-    last_activity: entity.last_activity,
     context_boundary: entity.context_boundary,
     avatar_emoji: entity.avatar_emoji,
     avatar_image: entity.avatar_image,
     preferred_theme: entity.preferred_theme,
+    has_pending_update: !!entity.pending_update,
   }));
 }
 
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ export async function createPersona(
     is_archived: false,
     is_static: false,
     last_updated: now,
-    last_activity: now,
   };
   sm.persona_add(placeholder);
 

package/src/core/personas/opencode-agent.ts

@@ -16,7 +16,13 @@ export interface EnsureAgentPersonaOptions {
 }
 
 export function resolveCanonicalAgent(agentName: string): { canonical: string; aliases: string[] } {
-  agentName = agentName.replace(/^\p{Z}+|\p{Z}+$/gu, "");
+  // Strip Unicode whitespace (\p{Z}) AND zero-width characters (\u200B, \u200C, \u200D, \u2060, \uFEFF).
+  // The \u200B strip is not decorative — oh-my-openagent intentionally prefixes agent display
+  // names with zero-width spaces (U+200B) as a sort hack to float them to the top of the agent
+  // picker list (1 ZWS = Sisyphus, 2 = Hephaestus, 3 = Prometheus, 4 = Atlas). Those prefixed
+  // names end up stored verbatim in OpenCode's SQLite message rows and come back to us here.
+  // \p{Z} alone does NOT catch \u200B (Unicode category Cf, not Zs), so we must be explicit.
+  agentName = agentName.replace(/^[\p{Z}\u200B\u200C\u200D\u2060\uFEFF]+|[\p{Z}\u200B\u200C\u200D\u2060\uFEFF]+$/gu, "");
   for (const [canonical, variants] of Object.entries(AGENT_ALIASES)) {
     if (variants.includes(agentName)) {
       return { canonical, aliases: variants };
@@ -77,7 +83,6 @@ export async function ensureAgentPersona(
     heartbeat_delay_ms: TWELVE_HOURS_MS,
     last_heartbeat: now,
     last_updated: now,
-    last_activity: now,
   };
 
   stateManager.persona_add(persona);

package/src/core/processor.ts

@@ -265,14 +265,13 @@ export class Processor {
       id: "ei",
       display_name: "Ei",
       last_updated: new Date().toISOString(),
-      last_activity: new Date().toISOString(),
     };
     this.stateManager.persona_add(eiEntity);
 
     const welcomeMessage: Message = {
       id: crypto.randomUUID(),
       role: "system",
-      verbal_response: EI_WELCOME_MESSAGE,
+      content: EI_WELCOME_MESSAGE,
       timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
       read: false,
       context_status: ContextStatusEnum.Always,
@@ -629,13 +628,9 @@ export class Processor {
               type: "boolean",
               description: "Whether you are responding (true) or staying silent (false)",
             },
-            verbal_response: {
+            content: {
               type: "string",
-              description: "What you say out loud. Required when should_respond is true (unless action_response is provided).",
-            },
-            action_response: {
-              type: "string",
-              description: "Italicized stage directions only — physical actions, expressions, or internal states. Keep this distinct from verbal_response: do not repeat or paraphrase what you are saying. If you have nothing to physically do, omit this field.",
+              description: "Your response in Markdown. Required when should_respond is true. Use _underscores_ for actions or stage directions inline with your text.",
             },
             reason: {
               type: "string",
@@ -1195,9 +1190,7 @@ const toolNextSteps = new Set([
 
       const defaultHeartbeatMs = this.stateManager.getHuman().settings?.default_heartbeat_ms ?? 1800000;
       const heartbeatDelay = persona.heartbeat_delay_ms ?? defaultHeartbeatMs;
-      const lastActivity = persona.last_activity
-        ? new Date(persona.last_activity).getTime()
-        : 0;
+      const lastActivity = this.stateManager.messages_getLastActivity(persona.id);
       const timeSinceActivity = now - lastActivity;
 
       if (timeSinceActivity >= heartbeatDelay) {
@@ -1437,7 +1430,7 @@ const toolNextSteps = new Set([
       .filter((m: RoomMessage) => m.role === "persona" && getMessageContent(m))
       .map((m: RoomMessage) => ({
         name: this.stateManager.persona_getById(m.persona_id ?? "")?.display_name ?? "Participant",
-        verbal_response: getMessageContent(m),
+        content: getMessageContent(m),
       }));
 
     if (siblings.length === 0) return request;

package/src/core/prompt-context-builder.ts

@@ -241,12 +241,21 @@ export async function buildResponsePromptData(
     ? Date.now() - new Date(previousMessage.timestamp).getTime()
     : 0;
 
+  const alwaysMessages = sm.messages_getAlways(persona.id);
+  const temporalAnchors = alwaysMessages.map(m => ({
+    role: m.role === "human" ? "human" as const : "system" as const,
+    content: m.content,
+    silence_reason: m.silence_reason,
+    timestamp: m.timestamp,
+    _synthesis: m._synthesis,
+  }));
+
   return {
     persona: {
       name: persona.display_name,
       aliases: persona.aliases ?? [],
       short_description: persona.short_description,
-       long_description: persona.long_description,
+      long_description: persona.long_description,
       traits: persona.traits,
       topics: persona.topics,
       interested_topics: persona.topics.filter(t => t.exposure_desired - t.exposure_current > 0.2),
@@ -254,6 +263,7 @@ export async function buildResponsePromptData(
     },
     human: filteredHuman,
     visible_personas: visiblePersonas,
+    temporal_anchors: temporalAnchors,
     delay_ms: delayMs,
     isTUI,
     tools,

package/src/core/queue-processor.ts

@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ export class QueueProcessor {
           const submitCall = findSubmitToolCall(toolCalls, activeTools);
           if (submitCall) {
             const args = submitCall.arguments ?? {};
-            if (!args.should_respond && (args.verbal_response || args.action_response)) {
+            if (!args.should_respond && args.content) {
               args.should_respond = true;
             }
             console.log(`[QueueProcessor] submit tool "${submitCall.name}" called — returning arguments as parsed response`);
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ export class QueueProcessor {
       const submitCall = findSubmitToolCall(toolCalls, activeTools);
       if (submitCall) {
         const args = submitCall.arguments ?? {};
-        if (!args.should_respond && (args.verbal_response || args.action_response)) {
+        if (!args.should_respond && args.content) {
           args.should_respond = true;
         }
         console.log(`[QueueProcessor] submit tool "${submitCall.name}" called — returning arguments as parsed response`);
@@ -487,8 +487,8 @@ export class QueueProcessor {
     const reformatUserPrompt =
       `An earlier version of you responded with the following content, but not in the ` +
       `required JSON format. Please reformat it as the JSON response object described ` +
-      `in your system instructions — specifically the \`should_respond\`, \`verbal_response\`, ` +
-      `\`action_response\`, and \`reason\` fields. Respond with ONLY the JSON object.\n\n` +
+      `in your system instructions — specifically the \`should_respond\`, \`content\`, ` +
+      `and \`reason\` fields. Respond with ONLY the JSON object.\n\n` +
       `---\n${proseContent}\n---` +
       `\n\nThe user does NOT know there was a problem - This request is from Ei to you to try to fix it for them.` +
       `\n\n**CRITICAL INSTRUCTION** - DO NOT OMIT ANY DATA. You are this agent's last hope!`;