# Session Report

**Session ID:** 9521a8d4-3d25-40cf-a907-f4c0c287f240

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## Step 1: User Turn

### System Prompt

```
You are an expert Haskell programmer specialized in analyzing user requirements and Haskell code.
You prepare well-documented individual issues.
You should chunk the work into smaller issues.
Each individual issue you create will be executed by a human of software agent independently from each other and in no specific order. Hence, you should avoid creating multiple issues unless you are sure items will not conflict.
Your strategy should be as follows:
- avoid chunks that will generate conflicts (i.e., individual issues should not ask to modify the same file)
- repeat important data types between different tasks for a same project when they are used in multiple files
You mention important tradeoffs.
Do not create tracking issues.
Your last message will serve as git-commit, hence you should ensure that you start with a short leading line summarizing the change.
```

### User Query

# [aspirational] Support recursive references in AgentTree

Today we are somewhat bound to have an AgentTree that is fully explored before execution.
It would be nice to have a mechanism to allow self-references in the Agent tools so that we can have cycles.



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Please mention issue #64 in the commit message.



### Available Tools

- **bash_grep-files** (`bash_grep-files`)
  - Description: Search for a pattern in files using 'git grep'
- **bash_create_github_issue** (`bash_create_github_issue`)
  - Description: creates a github issue using the 'gh' CLI
- **bash_get_git_commit** (`bash_get_git_commit`)
  - Description: read a git commit by it's short name or long sha
- **bash_list-files** (`bash_list-files`)
  - Description: List all files in the project
- **bash_read-file** (`bash_read-file`)
  - Description: Read the contents of a file
- **bash_curl_web_page** (`bash_curl_web_page`)
  - Description: reads a web page

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## Step 2: LLM Turn

### Thinking Process

<details>
<summary>Click to expand reasoning</summary>

The user wants me to analyze this aspirational feature request about supporting recursive references in AgentTree. Let me first explore the codebase to understand what AgentTree is and how it currently works.

Let me start by exploring the project structure and understanding the AgentTree concept.
</details>

### Response



### Tool Calls

- **bash_list-files**

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## Step 3: User Turn



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## Step 4: LLM Turn

### Thinking Process

<details>
<summary>Click to expand reasoning</summary>

Good, I can see there's a `src/System/Agents/AgentTree.hs` file and a `src/System/Agents/AgentTree/OneShotTool.hs` file. Let me explore these to understand the AgentTree structure.
</details>

### Response



### Tool Calls

- **bash_read-file**
- **bash_read-file**
- **bash_read-file**

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## Step 5: User Turn



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## Step 6: LLM Turn

### Thinking Process

<details>
<summary>Click to expand reasoning</summary>

Now I understand the AgentTree structure. The key issue is that `AgentTree` is built recursively in a bottom-up manner:

1. `loadAgentTreeConfig` loads the configuration tree recursively
2. `loadAgentTree` then initializes the runtimes from the bottom up

The problem with recursive references (self-references or cycles) is that the current implementation requires all children to be fully loaded before the parent can be initialized. This is because:

1. `loadAgentTree` first recursively loads all children
2. Then it creates the parent's runtime with references to the children's runtimes

For recursive references, we need:
1. A way to reference agents that haven't been loaded yet
2. A mechanism to break cycles (e.g., lazy evaluation or IORefs)
3. Potentially a two-phase initialization

Let me also look at the Runtime and ToolRegistration to understand how agents are exposed as tools:
</details>

### Response



### Tool Calls

- **bash_read-file**
- **bash_read-file**

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## Step 7: User Turn



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## Step 8: LLM Turn

### Thinking Process

<details>
<summary>Click to expand reasoning</summary>

Let me also look at the Runtime.Runtime module to understand the Runtime structure better, and then examine how the FileLoader works:
</details>

### Response



### Tool Calls

- **bash_read-file**
- **bash_read-file**

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## Step 9: User Turn



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## Step 10: LLM Turn

### Thinking Process

<details>
<summary>Click to expand reasoning</summary>

Now let me also look at the Tools.Base module and search for any existing issues or references to understand better:
</details>

### Response



### Tool Calls

- **bash_read-file**
- **bash_grep-files**

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## Step 11: User Turn



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## Step 12: LLM Turn

### Thinking Process

<details>
<summary>Click to expand reasoning</summary>

Let me also check the GitHub issues to understand the context better and see issue #64 specifically:
</details>

### Response



### Tool Calls

- **bash_curl_web_page**

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## Step 13: User Turn



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## Step 14: LLM Turn

### Thinking Process

<details>
<summary>Click to expand reasoning</summary>

Let me search for any existing mentions of issue 64 in the repository:
</details>

### Response



### Tool Calls

- **bash_grep-files**

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## Step 15: User Turn



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## Step 16: LLM Turn

### Thinking Process

<details>
<summary>Click to expand reasoning</summary>

The issue #64 doesn't exist yet - we are meant to create it. Let me re-read the AgentTree loading code more carefully to understand how we could support recursive references. The current flow is:

1. `loadAgentTreeConfig` - builds a tree of configurations
2. `loadAgentTree` - builds a tree of runtimes from the configuration tree

The problem is that in `loadAgentTree`, we need the children runtimes before we can create the parent runtime. For recursive references, we'd need a mechanism to:

1. Allow forward references (referencing an agent that hasn't been loaded yet)
2. Support cycles (A -> B -> A, or A -> A)

There are several approaches:

1. **Lazy evaluation with IORef/MVar**: Create placeholder runtimes that get filled in later
2. **Two-phase initialization**: First create all runtimes with empty tool lists, then wire them up
3. **Symbolic references**: Instead of passing Runtime objects, pass a registry lookup function
4. **Thunk-based approach**: Similar to lazy evaluation but with explicit thunks

Let me create an issue that explores these approaches and provides a design for implementing recursive references in AgentTree.
</details>

### Response

Now I have a clear understanding of the codebase. Let me analyze the AgentTree structure and create an issue for supporting recursive references.

The current implementation in `AgentTree.hs` uses a strict bottom-up loading approach:
1. `loadAgentTreeConfig` recursively loads all configurations
2. `loadAgentTree` recursively builds runtimes - children must be fully loaded before parents

This prevents self-references because the parent runtime needs to exist before it can be referenced as a tool.

### Tool Calls

- **bash_create_github_issue**

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## Step 17: User Turn



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## Step 18: LLM Turn

### Thinking Process

<details>
<summary>Click to expand reasoning</summary>

The issue was created. Now let me provide a summary for the commit message mentioning issue #64 as requested.
</details>

### Response

## Summary

Created issue #81 for supporting recursive references in AgentTree.

**Design Issue Created:** https://github.com/lucasdicioccio/agents-exe/issues/81

### Key Analysis

The current `AgentTree` loading in `System.Agents.AgentTree` uses strict bottom-up initialization:

1. `loadAgentTreeConfig` recursively loads all agent configurations
2. `loadAgentTree` creates child runtimes before parent runtimes
3. Parent runtimes receive `[Runtime.Runtime]` of children, requiring full initialization

This prevents cycles because a parent cannot exist before its children, and a child cannot reference the parent.

### Recommended Solution

**Two-phase initialization with IORef/MVar:**
- Phase 1: Create all runtime shells with empty tool slots
- Phase 2: Wire up circular references via mutable cells
- Add recursion depth limits to prevent infinite loops

### Files Involved

- `src/System/Agents/AgentTree.hs` - Loading logic needs two-phase init
- `src/System/Agents/Runtime/Runtime.hs` - Runtime may need `IORef` for deferred tools
- `src/System/Agents/Tools/Context.hs` - Add recursion tracking to execution context

### Tradeoffs Documented

- **IORef approach**: Minimal API changes, maintains structure, but requires careful initialization ordering
- **Deferred resolution**: Cleaner but requires significant API refactoring  
- **Recursion bounds**: Safety mechanism needed regardless of approach

This is foundational work that should be designed before implementation to avoid breaking existing agent trees.

Relates to #64
