From cad0cbcfbe4f0e1587fff713ee06ab3bf8d79e50 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: iris <2+iris@noreply.localhost>
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2026 01:05:35 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Keep subagent delivery out of assistant text

---
 SUBAGENTS.md                          |  6 ++-
 server/src/session/codex/translate.rs | 76 +++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 2 files changed, 78 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/SUBAGENTS.md b/SUBAGENTS.md
index 91ac4bd..6c31562 100644
--- a/SUBAGENTS.md
+++ b/SUBAGENTS.md
@@ -28,7 +28,11 @@ items name the child thread and its lifecycle, and `collabAgentToolCall`
 items carry the spawn prompt. The Codex translator routes a non-root
 `threadId` exactly as Claude routes a `parent_tool_use_id`. The child thread
 id is the subagent id on disk. An asynchronously delivered `agentMessage` is
-a `PeerMessage`, not assistant text from the recipient.
+a `PeerMessage`, not assistant text from the recipient. Its delta notification
+does not repeat the completed item's `delivery` field, so the translator
+remembers that field from `item/started` and suppresses those deltas. Letting
+one into the recipient's provisional assistant row makes its next completed
+message replace the combined row, visibly erasing text that Codex still has.
 
 ## Storage
 
diff --git a/server/src/session/codex/translate.rs b/server/src/session/codex/translate.rs
index b76cf88..929d6e6 100644
--- a/server/src/session/codex/translate.rs
+++ b/server/src/session/codex/translate.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 //! therefore match only the records that have a useful common equivalent and
 //! ignore the rest; an added Codex item must not make a live session go deaf.
 
-use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use serde_json::{Value, json};
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ pub(super) struct Translator {
     subagents: Option<Arc<Subagents>>,
     children: HashMap<String, Translator>,
     prompts: HashMap<String, String>,
+    async_messages: HashSet<String>,
     in_turn: bool,
 }
 
@@ -134,15 +135,43 @@ impl Translator {
                     state: SessionStatus::Running,
                 }]
             }
-            Some("item.started") | Some("item/started") => start_item(&body["item"]),
+            Some("item.started") | Some("item/started") => {
+                let item = &body["item"];
+                if let Some(id) = item.get("id").and_then(Value::as_str)
+                    && item.get("delivery").and_then(Value::as_str) == Some("async")
+                {
+                    self.async_messages.insert(id.to_string());
+                }
+                start_item(item)
+            }
             Some("item.updated") => update_item(&line["item"]),
             // The old `codex exec --json` dialect reports only the completed message. App-server
             // also reports deltas, but they are provisional: safety buffering can revise their
             // text before completion. Keep its completed copy as an append-only correction rather
             // than guessing that the two representations concatenate to the same answer.
             Some("item.completed") => complete_item(&body["item"], true),
-            Some("item/completed") => final_item(&body["item"]),
+            Some("item/completed") => {
+                let item = &body["item"];
+                let events = final_item(item);
+                if let Some(id) = item.get("id").and_then(Value::as_str) {
+                    self.async_messages.remove(id);
+                }
+                events
+            }
             Some("item/agentMessage/delta") => {
+                if body
+                    .get("itemId")
+                    .and_then(Value::as_str)
+                    .is_some_and(|id| self.async_messages.contains(id))
+                {
+                    // The delta notification does not repeat `delivery`.
+                    // Appending an asynchronously delivered peer report as
+                    // assistant text merges it into the recipient's current
+                    // reply; the next completed assistant item then replaces
+                    // that whole row. The item/started record did identify it,
+                    // so leave its text to the PeerMessage emitted at completion.
+                    return Vec::new();
+                }
                 let Some(delta) = body.get("delta").and_then(Value::as_str) else {
                     return Vec::new();
                 };
@@ -1192,6 +1221,47 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn delivered_agent_message_deltas_do_not_replace_the_recipients_text() {
+        let mut translator = Translator::default();
+
+        assert!(
+            translator
+                .translate(&line(
+                    r#"{"method":"item/started","params":{"threadId":"parent-thread","turnId":"turn-1","item":{"id":"delivery-1","type":"agentMessage","text":"","phase":null,"delivery":"async"}}}"#
+                ))
+                .is_empty()
+        );
+        assert!(
+            translator
+                .translate(&line(
+                    r#"{"method":"item/agentMessage/delta","params":{"threadId":"parent-thread","turnId":"turn-1","itemId":"delivery-1","delta":"a child report"}}"#
+                ))
+                .is_empty()
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            translator.translate(&line(
+                r#"{"method":"item/completed","params":{"threadId":"parent-thread","turnId":"turn-1","item":{"id":"delivery-1","type":"agentMessage","text":"a child report","phase":null,"delivery":"async"}}}"#
+            )),
+            vec![Event::PeerMessage {
+                from: "another agent".to_string(),
+                text: "a child report".to_string(),
+                turn_start: None
+            }]
+        );
+
+        // Removing the completed id is the path out for this state: a later
+        // item reusing it is not silently suppressed.
+        assert_eq!(
+            translator.translate(&line(
+                r#"{"method":"item/agentMessage/delta","params":{"threadId":"parent-thread","turnId":"turn-2","itemId":"delivery-1","delta":"ordinary text"}}"#
+            )),
+            vec![Event::AssistantText {
+                delta: "ordinary text".to_string()
+            }]
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn an_adopted_turn_does_not_go_idle_when_its_last_child_finishes() {
         let dir = tempfile::tempdir().expect("tempdir");