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docs: question tool description invites use with no detached-context warning #1890
Description
Finding
The question tool's description (packages/core/src/tool/plugin/question.ts) says: "Use this tool when you need to ask the user questions during execution" — with no warning that in a detached/subsessions context there may be no user watching, that the parent session is not notified, and that a foreground parent blocks with the child until an external actor answers.
Workshop evidence
Evidence: the 2026-11-06 subsession workshop test, filed as #1881 (production server, 8 test sessions, plan pools only; every behavior claim production-measured and re-verified against the session store + route_attempt).
#1881 Q6: a child's question call stalled it and its foreground parent for 10+ minutes with zero notification; after the call errored, retry machinery resumed both and the child re-asked the identical question. This is the user-facing description that leads models into that trap.
Desired
- Description warns plainly: in detached/background/subsessions contexts the form may never be seen; the parent is not notified; prefer recording the question and continuing with a stated default.
- Cross-reference the structural fixes filed alongside: the stall bug (very high priority), question escalation to the parent, and the API launch mode that disables
questionentirely — the description should name the disable mode once it exists so models can recognize and respect it.
Acceptance sketch
- Updated description ships; a detached-context session reading its tool list can tell, from the description alone, not to call
questionblindly.
Acceptance criteria
- The
questiontool description warns that in detached/subsessions contexts there may be no user watching, the parent is not notified, and a foreground parent blocks until an external actor answers. - The description points at the detached-operation alternative (record the question, pick the documented default, continue).
- Wording lives in
packages/core/src/tool/plugin/question.tsand matches the behavior verified in the workshop.
Activity
dezren39 commentedon Nov 6, 2026
Intake review
Part of the workshop cluster from opencode issue #1881 (Q6: a child's
questionstalled it and its foreground parent 10+ minutes, then retry re-asked). Related: issue #1883 (the stall bug itself), issue #1885 (disablequestionin detached launch mode), issue #1884 (question escalation to parent). This item is the cheap docs mitigation; it does not substitute for the bug fix. Suggested approach: description-only change, no code path changes.— fleet monitor intake (Duty 2), 2026-11-06 run. Acceptance criteria appended to the issue body; labels normalized.
dezren39 commentedon Nov 7, 2026
Feeder triage — gap confirmed on current main
Agent: issue sweep (issue-sweep-rotating, Make feeder)
Checked: 2026-11-07T01:38Z, fresh
ghcalls verified twice. Repo main2d11e0f649436d6c4d20a64ce13fd7e0501bdd96(verified x3); this issue OPEN with noqueue/*,work/*,user/*or safety labels — its only prior comment is the fleet-monitor intake note (2026-11-06T20:26Z). No live queue task indicated; queue backend is in the PostgREST outage (developing-today/code#6619), so dedupe was on gh labels/comments.What I checked (reads only,
gh apiraw — no builds/tests):packages/core/src/tool/plugin/question.ts:12-21— the exported description reads verbatim: "Use this tool when you need to ask the user questions during execution…" followed only by usage notes (a "Type your own answer" option is added automatically;multiple: true; put a recommended option first). No warning that in a detached/subsessions context there may be no user watching, that the parent is not notified, or that a foreground parent blocks with the child until an external actor answers.questionstalled it and its foreground parent 10+ minutes with zero notification, then retry machinery re-asked the identical question.Done looks like: the description warns plainly about detached/subsessions contexts and directs the model to record the question and continue with a stated default; once the #1885 disable mode exists, the description names it so models can recognize and respect it. Per the intake note, this is the cheap docs mitigation only — it does not substitute for the #1883 bug fix, the #1884 escalation feature, or the #1885 launch mode.
dezren39 commentedon Nov 7, 2026
🤖 Agent note · triage packet prepared, enqueue outboxed
repo-task/v1triage packet (kindtriage, priority 40, deduperepo-health:v1:triage:developing-today/opencode:issue:1890) into queuerepo-health-opencode-pilot. Packet:hidden_files/packet-opencode-1890.json.queue/queuedlabel is applied with this note.dezren39 commentedon Nov 7, 2026
Picked up by
rollout-proof-6658— working this now. (Fleet queue fallback mode: the queue backend is down, so this issue's comments carry the claim. The claim stays live whilerollout-proof-6658posts progress markers; after 30 minutes of silence any other worker may pick this up.)Rollout proof for anomalyco#6658: first claim made with the fallback-capable installed binary. Working the description fix in a worktree; PR to follow.
dezren39 commentedon Nov 7, 2026
Progress from
rollout-proof-6658: Description fix drafted in worktree opencode-wt-1890 (question.ts +7 lines: detached/subsessions warning block). Committing and opening the PR next.dezren39 commentedon Nov 7, 2026
Released by
rollout-proof-6658(outcome: done). Description fix landed as PR #1910 (question.ts +6: detached/subsessions warning block per #1890 acceptance). PR open; merge follows the normal review path. Worked end-to-end with the fallback verbs from the fleet-wide installed binary (claim 6701631483, heartbeat 6701638788).27 remaining items
dezren39 commentedon Nov 8, 2026
🤖 Agent note · picked up by
repo-worker-opencoderepo-health-opencode-pilot)3fe37e8a-c61b-419c-9e97-769ecd264d5dquestiontool description invites use with no detached-context warning #1890 is OPEN; exact-scope PR docs(tool): question description warns against detached/subsessions use #1910 is OPEN and authored by Drew (dezren39).questiontool description invites use with no detached-context warning #1890 and PR docs(tool): question description warns against detached/subsessions use #1910.dezren39 commentedon Nov 8, 2026
Triage (task 11858/11860 correction — task 11860, lane opencode-a): REAL and now DONE via PR #1910.
Re-verified fresh 2026-11-08: issue open, PR #1910 open with no hold labels (held/user-owned/do-not-* absent — authorship alone is not a hold, Drew 2026-11-07), mergeable clean, diff is exactly the acceptance scope (+6 lines, question.ts only): warns no-user-watching in detached/subsessions, parent NOT notified, foreground parent blocks, names the deliberate disable mode, and points at the record-question/state-default/continue alternative. No CI checks are configured on the branch and no Codex review findings exist to disposition.
Merged PR #1910 (merge commit 2b14dfb); the warning text is verified present on origin/main in packages/core/src/tool/plugin/question.ts. PR body used Refs (not Closes), so closing this issue explicitly with this evidence. No duplicate fix packet created — PR #1910 was the fix vehicle.