Merge pull request #574 from spacedriveapp/codex/knowledge-synthesis-participant-roles

[codex] Preserve participant roles in knowledge synthesis

Author: jamiepine

docs/design-docs/working-memory-implementation-plan.md

@@ -667,13 +667,15 @@ Create `prompts/en/cortex_knowledge_synthesis.md.j2`:
 Synthesize the agent's long-term knowledge into a concise briefing.
 Focus on:
 - Active goals and strategic direction
+- Stable participant or user role facts that affect future work
 - Cross-cutting themes and patterns
 - Known gaps in knowledge ("I don't have current information on X")
 - Accumulated observations
 
-Do NOT include: identity/role information, recent events or activity,
-channel-specific context, or user profiles. Those are provided by other
-context layers.
+Do NOT include: the agent's own identity or role, recent events or activity,
+channel-specific context, or full user profiles. Those are provided by other
+context layers. Keep concise participant-role facts here until participant
+context owns them.
 
 Maximum {{ max_words }} words.
 ```

docs/design-docs/working-memory-triage.md

@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ Findings from CodeRabbit review + bug reports. Tracking resolution before merge.
 - [x] **R2 — Bulletin fallback gate too aggressive** (`prompts/en/channel.md.j2:172`)
   Condition `not working_memory and not knowledge_synthesis` hides bulletin when working memory exists but knowledge synthesis hasn't run yet. **Fixed in PR #570:** fallback now depends on missing `knowledge_synthesis`, and prompt data preserves that original absence.
 
-- [ ] **R3 — Don't exclude participant-role facts yet** (`prompts/en/cortex_knowledge_synthesis.md.j2:21`)
-  Exclusion of "The user is the CEO" drops participant context with nowhere else to live until Phase 6 ships.
+- [x] **R3 — Don't exclude participant-role facts yet** (`prompts/en/cortex_knowledge_synthesis.md.j2:21`)
+  Exclusion of "The user is the CEO" drops participant context with nowhere else to live until Phase 6 ships. **Fixed in this slice:** knowledge synthesis now preserves concise participant/user role facts when they affect future routing, authority, relationships, or interpretation.
 
 - [ ] **R4 — Raw worker task in working memory** (`src/agent/channel_dispatch.rs:596`)
   `task` from user input persisted verbatim; could capture secrets/PII. Truncate and scrub.

prompts/en/cortex_knowledge_synthesis.md.j2

@@ -1,24 +1,26 @@
-You are the cortex's knowledge synthesizer. You receive pre-gathered memory data and must distill it into a concise briefing of what the agent KNOWS — not who it is or what happened recently.
+You are the cortex's knowledge synthesizer. You receive pre-gathered memory data and must distill it into a concise briefing of what the agent KNOWS. Do not restate the agent's own identity or recent activity.
 
 ## Include ONLY
 
 - Decisions that constrain future choices ("we decided to use X", "the approach is Y")
 - Active goals and strategic direction
 - User preferences and working patterns
+- Stable participant or user role facts that affect future routing, authority, relationships, or interpretation
 - Cross-cutting themes across conversations
 - Known knowledge gaps ("no current information on X")
 - Standing instructions or policies
 
 ## NEVER Include
 
-These are provided by other layers — repeating them wastes tokens:
+These are provided by other layers. Repeating them wastes tokens:
 
 - Who the agent is, its role, or the company description (Layer 1: Identity)
 - What happened today/yesterday/this week (Layer 2: Working Memory)
 - System status, uptime, memory usage, fleet health (Layer 2: Status Block)
 - Weather, time, or other ephemeral data
 - Product descriptions or GitHub star counts (Layer 1: Identity)
-- "The user is the CEO" or similar role statements (Layer 1: Identity)
+
+Keep participant-role facts concise. Until participant context owns them, role statements like "the user is the CEO" belong here when they affect future work.
 
 ## Output Format
 

src/prompts/engine.rs

@@ -852,5 +852,17 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(prompt.contains("Bulletin fallback"));
         assert!(!prompt.contains("## Knowledge Context"));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn knowledge_synthesis_prompt_preserves_participant_roles() {
+        let engine = PromptEngine::new("en").expect("prompt engine should build");
+        let prompt = engine
+            .render_static("cortex_knowledge_synthesis")
+            .expect("knowledge synthesis prompt should render");
+
+        assert!(prompt.contains("Stable participant or user role facts"));
+        assert!(prompt.contains("the user is the CEO"));
+        assert!(!prompt.contains("\"The user is the CEO\" or similar role statements"));
+    }
 }
 // to support multiple languages at compile time.