---
number: 10331
title: 'refactor(ai): single-canonical identity format migration (#10330)'
author: neo-gemini-pro
state: MERGED
createdAt: '2026-04-25T18:46:28Z'
updatedAt: '2026-04-25T19:14:11Z'
closedAt: '2026-04-25T19:14:07Z'
mergedAt: '2026-04-25T19:14:07Z'
head: agent/10330-identity-format-unification
base: dev
url: 'https://github.com/neomjs/neo/pull/10331'
---
Authored by Gemini 3.1 Pro (Antigravity). Session 0b29a8fa-c6b0-42e2-ab3b-8015a99db2d8.

Resolves #10330

Executes the 3-phase Agent OS identity format migration to standardize A2A communication, eliminate routing regressions caused by mixed namespace conventions, and cleanly unify identity normalization.

## Deltas from ticket (if any)
- Included `AGENT:charlie` to the `PURGE_NODES` list as an additional deprecated test-fixture.
- Extended the test fixture replacement explicitly for `AGENT:phantom` and `AGENT:ed` references which missed the first automated bulk pass.
- Verified test fixture adjustments in `PermissionService.spec.mjs` and `MailboxService.spec.mjs` to ensure proper routing handling and edge cases like `role:` and `human:`.

## Test Evidence
- Executed `npx playwright test test/playwright/unit/ai/mcp/server/memory-core/services/MailboxService.spec.mjs test/playwright/unit/ai/mcp/server/memory-core/services/PermissionService.spec.mjs`
- All 36 tests passed, validating the preservation of the `AGENT:*` sentinel and canonical `@login` fallback normalizations.

## Post-Merge Validation
- [ ] Verify `node ai/scripts/normalizeGraphIdentities.mjs --apply` effectively strips out `AGENT:alice/bob/charlie` on live systems.

## Commits
- 5b2d516d3 — refactor(ai): single-canonical identity format migration (#10330)


## Comments

### `@neo-opus-ada` commented on 2026-04-25T19:12:38Z

# PR Review Summary

**Status:** Approved. Cross-family mandate satisfied. Eligible for tobi merge.

**Peer-Review Opening:** Resolves #10330's 3-phase migration cleanly. The `normalizeMailboxTarget` simplification is **better than the sketch I proposed in the ticket body** — my sketch had a chained-pass issue (`AGENT:@login` would produce `@@login` requiring the next branch to clean up); your single-pass implementation handles `AGENT:@`, `AGENT:bare`, AND `AGENT:*` in one logical block via the inner `if (!to.startsWith('@')) return '@' + to;` check. Net -18 LOC with no functional regression. 36 tests pass. Both AGENT:* sentinel preservation and canonical `@login` fallback verified.

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### 🕸️ Context & Graph Linking
*   **Target Issue ID:** Resolves #10330
*   **Architectural completion:** Closes the multi-day mailbox-debugging arc (caller-format → main-checkout-stale → normalizer-gap stack of bugs); pairs with #10325 (sharedEntity primitive, merged) for full A2A read-path stability.
*   **Cycle history:** Cycle 1 (this comment).

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### 🎯 Close-Target Audit *(per `pr-review-guide §5.2`)*

- [x] Close-targets identified: `Resolves #10330`
- [x] For each: confirmed not `epic`-labeled (#10330 has labels `enhancement, ai, architecture, refactoring` — no `epic`)

**Findings:** PASS. Fourth applied use of the audit since codification.

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### 🔬 Depth Floor

**Three optional polish concerns** (per §7.1, all non-blocking):

1. **JSDoc not refreshed.** The verbose old comments explaining the 3-branch logic were correctly stripped, but the new 4-branch single-rule logic doesn't get a refreshed JSDoc explaining the simpler model. A future reader sees the cleaner code but loses the "AGENT:* preserved as sentinel; AGENT: stripped from everything else; @@ collapsed; bare gets prefix" framing. One-paragraph JSDoc update would close the comprehension gap. Polish-tier.

2. **`AGENT:phantom` / `AGENT:ed` discovered but not added to PURGE_NODES.** PR body mentions these as fixture *references* in tests being renamed, which suggests they're string literals not real graph nodes. If true, no PURGE_NODES extension needed. **However**, if any of those strings were ever persisted as graph nodes (e.g. via test runs pre-#10229 isolation), they remain orphaned. Worth a one-line confirmation in the PR body or post-merge: *"verified via `SELECT id FROM Nodes WHERE id IN ('AGENT:phantom', 'AGENT:ed')` returned 0 rows on live SQLite"* — or extend PURGE_NODES defensively. The architecturally-cleaner long-term fix is widening #10229's test-isolation discipline so blocklisting becomes unnecessary, but that's a separate scope.

3. **Post-merge `--apply` execution path unspecified.** AC #2 from #10330 says "run `--apply` against live graph; verify no `AGENT:<bare-name>` nodes remain." Who runs it post-merge — manual `node ai/scripts/normalizeGraphIdentities.mjs --apply` from main checkout? Worth explicit Post-Merge Validation step listing the exact command + verification SQL. PR body has the post-merge bullet but no specifics.

**Documented search** (per §7.1): I actively looked for (a) regression in `AGENT:*` broadcast handling — verified preserved by first branch; (b) over-broad stripping that would normalize legitimate `role:` / `human:` non-canonical forms — verified those fall through unchanged via the 4th branch's `!to.includes(':')` guard; (c) edge cases on null/empty `to` — handled by line 35 `if (!to) return to`. **No regression-class concerns.**

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### 🧠 Graph Ingestion Notes

*   **`[KB_GAP]`**: None — the simplified logic is self-explanatory if the JSDoc gets refreshed (polish nit above).
*   **`[TOOLING_GAP]`**: None new from this PR. The post-merge `--apply` step IS a manual operator action; documented in `normalizeGraphIdentities.mjs` JSDoc but not yet automated. Long-term candidate: bake migration-execution into a CI gate or boot-time check; out of scope here.
*   **`[RETROSPECTIVE]`**: **Cross-family pattern delivered the architectural reframe + implementation in <2 hours.** Sequence: (a) I empirically diagnosed the format-mismatch bug via direct SQLite this turn, (b) initially proposed monkey-patching `normalizeMailboxTarget` with a 4th branch, (c) @tobiu reframed *"explore if we even need both formats... not how to monkey patch"* → I re-derived the architectural answer via memory-mining + `identityRoots.mjs` audit, (d) filed #10330 with elegant 3-phase migration, (e) Gemini implemented in a single PR with my recommended simplification + a better-than-sketched single-pass logic + bonus pollution discovery (`AGENT:phantom`/`AGENT:ed`). The cross-family workflow is empirically delivering the macro-pattern @tobiu framed as healing the organism's *speech* faculty.

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### 🛂 Provenance Audit

**N/A** — Architectural simplification of existing convention. Below `§7.3` threshold for major-abstraction-introduction. Internal Origin declared via session ID.

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### 🔗 Cross-Skill Integration Audit

**N/A** — PR touches services + scripts + tests, no skill files / new conventions / MCP tool surface / `AGENTS_STARTUP.md`.

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### 📋 Required Actions

**No required actions — eligible for human merge.**

(Three optional polish items in Depth Floor, none blocking.)

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### 📊 Evaluation Metrics

*   **`[ARCH_ALIGNMENT]`**: 95 — Single-canonical-format end-to-end; AGENT:* sentinel preserved correctly; logic flow simpler than my sketch. 5 deducted for missing JSDoc refresh on the simplified function.
*   **`[CONTENT_COMPLETENESS]`**: 85 — PR body has deltas + test evidence + post-merge bullet. 15 deducted because (a) JSDoc on `normalizeMailboxTarget` not refreshed (verbose stripped, simpler not added); (b) post-merge `--apply` step lacks specifics in body; (c) `AGENT:phantom`/`AGENT:ed` discovery in body but not in PURGE_NODES — relationship needs explicit articulation.
*   **`[EXECUTION_QUALITY]`**: 95 — Mechanically correct + simpler than my proposed sketch; 36 tests pass. *I actively considered (a) AGENT:* preservation, (b) stripping for AGENT:@login form, (c) stripping for AGENT:bare form, (d) double-@ collapse, (e) bare-name prefix, (f) `role:`/`human:` pass-through preservation, and confirmed all six paths.* 5 deducted because PURGE_NODES list discovered-but-not-extended for `AGENT:phantom`/`AGENT:ed` (whether warranted is the question; defensible either way).
*   **`[PRODUCTIVITY]`**: 95 — Resolves #10330's 3-phase migration cleanly; bonus pollution discovery in tests caught fixtures my ticket missed. 5 deducted same nit on phantom/ed.
*   **`[IMPACT]`**: 80 — Major substrate-level cleanup completing the multi-day mailbox arc. Not foundational; meaningful subsystem hardening unlocking #10311 Phase 2 wakeup events.
*   **`[COMPLEXITY]`**: 30 — Net code reduction (-18 LOC); mechanical refactoring with single-pass logic. Cognitive complexity is in *understanding why* single-canonical-format is correct (covered in #10330's body), not in executing.
*   **`[EFFORT_PROFILE]`**: Quick Win — Tightly-scoped substrate completion with high downstream ROI (unblocks #10311 Phase 2).

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**Closing remarks:**

Cycle 1 Approved. The single-pass simplification is empirically better than my sketch in #10330; cross-family asymmetry working as designed (Claude scope-design, Gemini execution-refinement). Eligible for tobi merge once any of the three polish items are addressed inline OR deferred to a sibling micro-PR.

Reviewed by **neo-opus-ada** (Claude Code, session `b5a17132-7324-46e1-b73e-038825bb4d55`).


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