abort() only kills the in-flight step, so a queued-but-not-yet-started prompt
ran to completion after a cancel and a prompt accepted right after could be
batched into the cancelled turn (the loop merges queued messages into one turn).
This closes TODO(rfc010-cancel-prestep) with a distinct cancel() verb.
cancel() clears the queued + steering FIFOs, aborts the in-flight step, and
drives a turn-scoped marker on the LoopHandle that the driver checks at EVERY
point a turn could start or continue:
- right after the idle wait (window 1): drop the about-to-run turn and settle
whenIdle() waiters directly (no running→idle transition fires, and no
agent/status is emitted, so an ACP listener can't see a spurious idle that
resolves a freshly-queued prompt as cancelled);
- after the synchronous setStatus('running') emit (window 2): a running listener
can cancel in the gap before runTurn;
- in the step-start window (before runStep, after setAbort): a synchronous
turn-start/step-start listener can cancel before any AbortController exists;
- at the continuation gate: a cancel during the continuation waterfall (the
finished step's controller already cleared) ends the turn aborted.
The marker is ARMED only when there is something to cancel (running, an
in-flight step, or queued/steering work) — an idle no-op cancel cannot leave it
set to drop a later prompt — and RESET unconditionally once per loop iteration,
so it governs exactly one turn and never leaks onto the next prompt (even when a
send() lands in the cancelled turn's flush window).
ACP session/cancel now maps to agent.cancel() (keeping the synchronous
settlePrompt). Teardown/disconnect still use abort('disposed') until PR D, so
the ACP README narrows the remaining best-effort window to teardown only.
Tests (agent-loop/cancel.spec.ts) cover every window unit-level (the F1 hang
guard: a whenIdle() waiter registered before a pre-step cancel resolves; the F2
leak guard: idle cancel then a prompt runs; mid-step, continuation, both
pre-step windows, turn-start-listener, steering-cleared, marker-reset). ACP
turns.spec.ts adds the through-bridge tests with NO intervening whenIdle (idle
cancel→prompt runs; mid-stream cancel→immediate next prompt runs) and updates
the stale pre-step test to the queue-aware guarantee. The existing cancel
snapshot golden is byte-identical (it drives the new cancel() path end-to-end
through the real subprocess), so no new golden is needed. 100% coverage.
dsh-agent
Agent interface, registry, and agent/* event vocabulary. Every plugin (UI, hooks, orchestrators) programs against the Agent handle defined here — it has zero loop dependency, so the loop is swappable.
Service: AgentRegistry (ctx key: agents)
Tracks live agents so UI, hook, and orchestrator plugins can find them without importing the concrete loop package.
Public API
ctx.agents.register(agent: Agent): () => void— record an already-constructed agent. Disposed with the calling fiber.ctx.agents.get(id: string): Agent | undefinedctx.agents.list(): Agent[]
Factory seam (creation)
Agent creation is provided by whichever plugin implements AgentFactory (phase 1: dsh-agent-loop), registered via setFactory. This keeps creation on the dsh-agent interface so consumers (UI, the ACP bridge) program against ctx.agents without depending on the concrete loop package.
ctx.agents.setFactory(factory: AgentFactory): () => void— register the creation factory (the loop calls this on construction). Throws on a second factory; the slot clears on dispose.ctx.agents.create(options: CreateAgentOptions): Agent— construct, start, AND register a new agent on a caller-suppliedsessionId(with optionalmeta.cwd). Distinct fromregister(which only records). Throws if no factory is registered.ctx.agents.resume(options: ResumeAgentOptions): Promise<Agent>— load a persisted session (session persistence) and resume an agent on it. Async; rejects if no factory is registered, or if the factory finds session persistence unconfigured.
Events
The full agent/* event taxonomy is declared via declaration merging in dsh-agent (not dsh-agent-loop), so plugins depend only on this package.
Lifecycle (emit)
agent/created,agent/disposed— registration/deregistrationagent/status— idle / running / disposed transitionagent/queued— message entered inbox (source-resolved, steering flag)
Turn/step boundaries (emit)
agent/turn-start,agent/turn-end(carriesTurnEndReason)agent/step-start,agent/step-end
Interception seams (waterfall)
agent/request— mutateGenerateOptionsbefore the model call (hooks, compaction, model switching, tool filtering)agent/step-result— post-process the assembled assistant message before tool dispatch (validates what the log records)agent/turn-continuation— override the continue/stop decision (force-continue /loop, force-stop budget guard)
Streaming + tool (emit)
agent/stream-chunk— raw chunk from the model (token-level UI/log feed)agent/steering— steering content injected mid-turnagent/error— step/turn error
Agent interface (types.ts)
The handle every plugin programs against:
agent.send(content, options?)— queue a message; starts a turn when idleagent.steer(content, options?)— steer a running turn (inject between steps); behaves likesendwhen idleagent.inject(content, options?)— inject in-session context (context/message event); the next request sees it. Does not run the model. While a turn is open it joins that turn; while idle it is wrapped in a one-shotinjectionturn so every event stays turn-enclosed (the turn-enclosure invariant)agent.abort(reason?)— abort the in-flight step (the narrow, step-only verb)agent.cancel(reason?)— cancel ALL pending work: clears the queued + steering FIFOs, aborts the in-flight step, and drops a turn about to start (the pre-step window) so a queued-but-not-started prompt never runs. A UI/ACPsession/cancelmaps to this. Idle with nothing pending → a safe no-op.agent.whenIdle()— resolve once the agent reaches quiescence after settling out ofrunning(idle → immediately; disposed → awaits the loop exit), the signal a teardown awaits (abort()thenawait whenIdle()). Observes the transition without disposing the agent.agent.session,agent.status,agent.options,agent.id
Extension points
- Agent creation:
AgentLoop.create()is the concrete implementation (indsh-agent-loop). Replace the loop by implementingAgentand registering viactx.agents.register(). - Event listeners: all
agent/*events are declared here — no dependency on the loop package needed.
What is NOT here (TODO)
- Sub-agent spawn/fork — seam on
AgentLoop.create(), semantics deferred.