passepartout/org/symbolic-awareness.org

Symbolic Awareness (symbolic-awareness.lisp)

• Overview: Architectural Intent
  • The Foveal-Peripheral Model
  • Why Not Just Dump Everything?
  • Semantic Retrieval Activation (v0.4.0)
  • Contract
• Implementation
  • Package Context
  • Memory Query (context-query)
  • Active Projects (context-active-projects)
  • Completed Tasks (context-recent-tasks)
  • Capability Discovery (context-skill-list)
  • Skill Source Inspection (context-skill-source)
  • Subtree Skill Source (context-skill-subtree)
  • Harness Logs (context-logs)
  • Backward-Compatibility Alias (context-get-system-logs)
  • AST to Org Rendering (context-object-render)
  • Path Resolution (context-path-resolve)
  • Privacy Filter for Context Assembly
  • Global Awareness (context-awareness-assemble)
  • Backward-Compatibility Alias
  • Skill Registration
• Test Suite

Overview: Architectural Intent

The Context API implements the Foveal-Peripheral awareness model. When the agent thinks, it doesn't dump everything it knows into the LLM's context window — that would saturate the token budget immediately. Instead, it builds a skeletal outline of the entire Memex and only shows full detail for the current focus.

This mirrors human attention: you are aware of your entire apartment (peripheral vision), but you only see the book in front of you in detail (foveal vision).

The Foveal-Peripheral Model

Three factors determine how much detail an object gets:

1. Depth — objects within 2 levels of the root get full outline (title + ID). Deeper objects are summarized or omitted.
2. Foveal focus — the object the user is currently interacting with gets full content rendered.
3. Semantic similarity — objects whose vector embedding is similar to the current foveal focus get promoted from peripheral to foveal detail.

Why Not Just Dump Everything?

A naive implementation that serializes every org-object to text would produce hundreds of thousands of tokens for a typical knowledge base. The LLM would spend its attention budget on noise, not signal. The Foveal-Peripheral model preserves the signal (the current task and related information) while reducing noise (everything else).

The semantic threshold is configurable via CONTEXT_SEMANTIC_THRESHOLD env var (default 0.75). Lower values include more peripherally related content; higher values restrict to tightly related content.

Semantic Retrieval Activation (v0.4.0)

In v0.3.0, the infrastructure for semantic retrieval was in place — the cosine similarity calculation, the semantic threshold check, and the embedding pipeline — but :foveal-vector was never passed to context-object-render. It was always nil, so (if (and foveal-vector obj-vector ...) ...) always took the 0.0 branch. Every peripheral node had similarity zero regardless of content overlap.

The fix is a one-line wiring: context-awareness-assemble now extracts the foveal node's embedding vector via (memory-object-vector (memory-object-get foveal-id)) and passes it as the :foveal-vector keyword argument to context-object-render. This activates the entire semantic retrieval path — nodes with high cosine similarity to the foveal node are promoted to full-content rendering.

The effectiveness of this depends on the embedding backend. The default :trigram backend (v0.4.0 replacement for ~:hashing~/SHA-256) captures lexical overlap: if two nodes share enough character trigrams, their cosine similarity exceeds the threshold and the peripheral node is promoted to foveal detail. This gives the context model genuine semantic boosting with zero LLM tokens and zero external dependencies.

Contract

1. (context-awareness-assemble &optional signal): produces a skeletal outline of current Memory for the LLM. If :foveal-focus is set, the foveal node gets inline rendering; peripheral nodes get title-only. Privacy-filtered objects are excluded.
2. (context-assemble-global-awareness): zero-arg wrapper — calls context-awareness-assemble without foveal focus.

Implementation

Package Context

(in-package :passepartout)

Memory Query (context-query)

Filters the Memory store by tag, TODO state, or object type. This is the primary retrieval function used by skills to find relevant information.

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T13:00:00

(defun context-query (&key tag todo-state type scope)
  "Filters the Memory based on tags, todo states, or types.
Optional SCOPE restricts results to objects with that scope
or :memex (global scope always visible)."
  (let ((results nil))
    (maphash (lambda (id obj)
               (declare (ignore id))
               (let* ((attrs (memory-object-attributes obj)) (state (getf attrs :TODO-STATE)) (match t))
                 ;; Scope filter: if scope specified, only match :memex (global) or same scope
                 (when (and scope (not (eq (memory-object-scope obj) :memex))
                            (not (eq (memory-object-scope obj) scope)))
                   (setf match nil))
                 (when (and type (not (eq (memory-object-type obj) type))) (setf match nil))
                 (when tag (unless (search tag (format nil "~a" (getf attrs :TAGS)) :test #'string-equal) (setf match nil)))
                 (when (and todo-state (not (equal state todo-state))) (setf match nil))
                 (when match (push obj results))))
             *memory-store*)
    results))

Active Projects (context-active-projects)

Returns headlines tagged as project that are not yet DONE. Used by the global awareness function to build the task overview.

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T13:00:00

(defun context-active-projects ()
  "Returns headlines tagged as 'project' that are not yet marked DONE."
  (remove-if (lambda (obj) (equal (getf (memory-object-attributes obj) :TODO-STATE) "DONE"))
             (context-query :tag "project" :type :HEADLINE)))

Completed Tasks (context-recent-tasks)

Retrieves recently finished tasks from the store. Used by the Scribe and Gardener for journal summarization.

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T13:00:00

(defun context-recent-tasks () 
  "Retrieves recently finished tasks from the store."
  (context-query :todo-state "DONE" :type :HEADLINE))

Capability Discovery (context-skill-list)

Provides a sorted overview of currently loaded system capabilities. Each entry includes the skill name, priority, and dependencies.

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T13:00:00

(defun context-skill-list ()
  "Provides a sorted overview of currently loaded system capabilities."
  (let ((results nil))
    (maphash (lambda (name skill)
               (declare (ignore name))
               (push (list :name (skill-name skill) :priority (skill-priority skill) :dependencies (skill-dependencies skill)) results))
             *skill-registry*)
    (sort results #'> :key (lambda (x) (getf x :priority)))))

Skill Source Inspection (context-skill-source)

Reads the raw literate source of a specific skill for inspection. Used when the agent needs to understand or modify its own code.

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T13:00:00

(defun context-skill-source (skill-name)
  "Reads the raw literate source of a specific skill for inspection."
  (let* ((filename (format nil "~a.org" skill-name))
         (data-dir (uiop:ensure-directory-pathname (or (uiop:getenv "PASSEPARTOUT_DATA_DIR") (namestring (merge-pathnames ".local/share/passepartout/" (user-homedir-pathname))))))
         (org-dir (merge-pathnames "org/" data-dir))
         (full-path (merge-pathnames filename org-dir)))
     (if (uiop:file-exists-p full-path) (uiop:read-file-string full-path) nil)))

Subtree Skill Source (context-skill-subtree)

Returns a specific headline subtree from a skill's Org file. Delegates to org-subtree-extract in the programming-org skill for actual parsing.

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T13:00:00

(defun context-skill-subtree (skill-name heading-name)
  "Reads a specific headline subtree from a skill's Org source file.
Returns the content under HEADING-NAME (including children) as a string,
or nil if the heading is not found."
  (let ((full-source (context-skill-source skill-name)))
    (unless full-source (return-from context-skill-subtree nil))
    (if (fboundp 'org-subtree-extract)
        (org-subtree-extract full-source heading-name)
        ;; Fallback: no org-subtree-extract available, return full source
        full-source)))

Harness Logs (context-logs)

Retrieves the most recent lines from the harness's internal log buffer. The log limit is configurable via CONTEXT_LOG_LIMIT env var (default 20).

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T13:00:00

(defun context-logs (&optional limit)
  "Retrieves the most recent lines from the harness's internal log."
  (let ((log-limit (or limit (ignore-errors (parse-integer (uiop:getenv "CONTEXT_LOG_LIMIT"))) 20)))
    (bt:with-lock-held (*log-lock*)
      (let ((count (min log-limit (length *log-buffer*)))) 
        (subseq *log-buffer* 0 count)))))

Backward-Compatibility Alias (context-get-system-logs)

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T14:00:00

(defun context-get-system-logs (&optional limit)
  "Backward-compatibility alias for context-logs."
  (context-logs limit))

AST to Org Rendering (context-object-render)

Recursively renders an org-object and its children to an Org-mode string, applying the Foveal-Peripheral model:

• Objects within depth 2 are always included (outline)
• The foveal object (the one the user is looking at) is always included with full content
• Objects with semantic similarity above the threshold are included with full content
• All other objects are omitted silently

This function is the heart of the context assembly. Its performance directly affects the agent's response time.

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T13:00:00

(defun context-object-render (obj &key (depth 1) (foveal-id nil) semantic-threshold (foveal-vector nil))
  "Recursively renders an org-object and its children to an Org string using a Foveal-Peripheral Hybrid model."
  (let* ((id (memory-object-id obj))
         (is-foveal (equal id foveal-id))
         (title (or (getf (memory-object-attributes obj) :TITLE) "Untitled"))
         (content (memory-object-content obj))
         (children (memory-object-children obj))
         (stars (make-string depth :initial-element #\*))
         (obj-vector (memory-object-vector obj))
         (threshold (or semantic-threshold (ignore-errors (read-from-string (uiop:getenv "CONTEXT_SEMANTIC_THRESHOLD"))) 0.75))
         (similarity (if (and foveal-vector obj-vector (not is-foveal))
                          (vector-cosine-similarity foveal-vector obj-vector)
                         0.0))
         (is-semantically-relevant (>= similarity threshold))
         (should-render (or (<= depth 2) is-foveal is-semantically-relevant))
         (output ""))
    
    (when should-render
      (setf output (format nil "~a ~a~%:PROPERTIES:~%:ID: ~a~%" stars title id))
      (when is-semantically-relevant
        (setf output (concatenate 'string output (format nil ":SEMANTIC_SCORE: ~,2f~%" similarity))))
      (setf output (concatenate 'string output (format nil ":END:~%")))
      
      (when (and content (or is-foveal is-semantically-relevant))
        (setf output (concatenate 'string output content (string #\Newline))))
      
      (dolist (child-id children)
        (let ((child-obj (memory-object-get child-id)))
          (when child-obj
            (let ((next-foveal (if is-foveal child-id foveal-id)))
              (setf output (concatenate 'string output 
                                        (context-object-render child-obj 
                                                               :depth (1+ depth) 
                                                               :foveal-id next-foveal
                                                               :semantic-threshold threshold
                                                               :foveal-vector foveal-vector))))))))
    output))

Path Resolution (context-path-resolve)

Expands environment variables in a path string and strips quotes. Used to resolve configurable paths from .env.

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T13:00:00

(defun context-path-resolve (path-string)
  "Expands environment variables and strips literal quotes from a path string."
  (let ((path (if (stringp path-string) 
                  (string-trim '(#\" #\' #\Space) path-string)
                  path-string)))
    (if (and (stringp path) (search "$" path))
        (let ((result path))
          (ppcre:do-register-groups (var-name) ("\\$([A-Za-z0-9_]+)" path)
            (let ((var-val (uiop:getenv var-name)))
              (when var-val
                (setf result (ppcre:regex-replace (format nil "\\$~a" var-name) result var-val)))))
          result)
        path)))

Privacy Filter for Context Assembly

Checks if an org-object has tags matching the Dispatcher's privacy tags. Objects with matching tags are excluded from the LLM's context window. This prevents private content tagged with @personal (or any user-configured privacy tag) from being included in prompts sent to external LLM providers.

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T13:00:00

(defun context-privacy-filtered-p (obj)
  "Returns T if an org-object's :TAGS attribute matches the Dispatcher's privacy tags."
  (let* ((attrs (memory-object-attributes obj))
         (tags (getf attrs :TAGS))
         (privacy-tags (and (find-package :passepartout.security-dispatcher)
                            (symbol-value
                             (find-symbol "*DISPATCHER-PRIVACY-TAGS*"
                                          :passepartout.security-dispatcher)))))
    (when (and tags privacy-tags)
      (let ((tag-list (if (listp tags) tags (list tags))))
        (some (lambda (tag)
                (some (lambda (private)
                        (string-equal (string-trim '(#\:) tag)
                                      (string-trim '(#\:) private)))
                      privacy-tags))
              tag-list)))))

Global Awareness (context-awareness-assemble)

Produces the high-level skeletal outline of the current Memory that is included in every LLM call. This is the "peripheral vision" of the agent — it knows what projects exist, their titles and IDs, but not their full content.

Privacy-filtered projects (those with tags matching the Dispatcher's privacy tags) are excluded from the output.

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T13:00:00

(defun context-awareness-assemble (&optional signal)
  "Produces a high-level skeletal outline of the current Memory for the LLM.
Privacy-filtered objects (matching the Dispatcher's privacy tags) are excluded."
  (let* ((foveal-id (or (getf signal :foveal-focus) 
                         (ignore-errors (getf (getf signal :payload) :target-id))))
         (foveal-vector (when foveal-id
                          (memory-object-vector (memory-object-get foveal-id))))
         (all-projects (context-active-projects))
         (projects (remove-if #'context-privacy-filtered-p all-projects))
         (output (format nil "GLOBAL MEMEX AWARENESS (Peripheral Vision):~%")))
    (if projects
        (dolist (project projects)
          (setf output (concatenate 'string output
                                    (context-object-render project :foveal-id foveal-id :foveal-vector foveal-vector))))
          (setf output (concatenate 'string output "No active projects found.~%")))
    output))

Backward-Compatibility Alias

The global awareness function was renamed from context-assemble-global-awareness to context-awareness-assemble.

;; REPL-VERIFIED: 2026-05-03T14:00:00

(defun context-assemble-global-awareness ()
  (context-awareness-assemble))

Skill Registration

(defskill :passepartout-symbolic-awareness
  :priority 50
  :trigger (lambda (ctx) (declare (ignore ctx)) nil))

Test Suite

Verifies that the Foveal-Peripheral rendering correctly distinguishes between foveal (detailed) and peripheral (outline) content, and that the awareness budget includes all active projects.

(eval-when (:compile-toplevel :load-toplevel :execute)
  (ql:quickload :fiveam :silent t))

(defpackage :passepartout-peripheral-vision-tests
  (:use :cl :fiveam :passepartout)
  (:export #:vision-suite))
(in-package :passepartout-peripheral-vision-tests)

(def-suite vision-suite :description "Verification of Foveal-Peripheral context model.")
(in-suite vision-suite)

(test test-foveal-rendering
  "Contract 1: foveal content inline, peripheral content title-only."
  (clrhash passepartout::*memory-store*)
  (let* ((ast '(:type :HEADLINE :properties (:ID "proj-root" :TITLE "Project" :TAGS ("project"))
                :contents ((:type :HEADLINE :properties (:ID "node-foveal" :TITLE "Foveal Node")
                             :raw-content "FOVEAL CONTENT" :contents nil)
                            (:type :HEADLINE :properties (:ID "node-peripheral" :TITLE "Peripheral Node")
                             :raw-content "PERIPHERAL CONTENT" :contents nil)))))
    (ingest-ast ast)
    (let ((output (context-awareness-assemble (list :foveal-focus "node-foveal"))))
      (is (search "FOVEAL CONTENT" output))
      (is (search "* Peripheral Node" output))
      (is (not (search "PERIPHERAL CONTENT" output))))))

(test test-awareness-budget
  "Contract 1: all active projects appear in awareness output."
  (clrhash passepartout::*memory-store*)
  (ingest-ast '(:type :HEADLINE :properties (:ID "p1" :TITLE "Project 1" :TAGS ("project")) :contents nil))
  (ingest-ast '(:type :HEADLINE :properties (:ID "p2" :TITLE "Project 2" :TAGS ("project")) :contents nil))
  (let ((output (context-awareness-assemble)))
    (is (search "Project 1" output))
    (is (search "Project 2" output))))

(test test-context-empty-memory
  "Contract 1: empty memory produces clean output without error."
  (clrhash passepartout::*memory-store*)
  (let ((output (context-awareness-assemble)))
    (is (stringp output))
    (is (search "MEMEX" output :test #'char-equal))))

(test test-context-no-foveal-focus
  "Contract 2: without foveal focus, no inline content appears."
  (clrhash passepartout::*memory-store*)
  (let* ((ast '(:type :HEADLINE :properties (:ID "root" :TITLE "Root" :TAGS ("project"))
                :contents ((:type :HEADLINE :properties (:ID "child" :TITLE "Child Node")
                             :raw-content "CHILD CONTENT" :contents nil)))))
    (ingest-ast ast)
    (let ((output (context-awareness-assemble nil)))
      (is (stringp output))
      (is (not (search "CHILD CONTENT" output))))))

(test test-semantic-retrieval-trigram
  "Contract v0.4.0: trigram backend produces non-zero similarity for related content."
  (let ((v1 (passepartout::embedding-backend-trigram "implement user login form"))
        (v2 (passepartout::embedding-backend-trigram "add password authentication")))
    (let ((sim (passepartout::vector-cosine-similarity v1 v2)))
      (is (> sim 0.0))))
  (let ((v3 (passepartout::embedding-backend-trigram "authentication login form handler module"))
        (v4 (passepartout::embedding-backend-trigram "authentication login form handler fix")))
    (let ((sim (passepartout::vector-cosine-similarity v3 v4)))
      (is (> sim 0.75))))
  (let ((v5 (passepartout::embedding-backend-trigram "authentication"))
        (v6 (passepartout::embedding-backend-trigram "banana")))
    (let ((sim (passepartout::vector-cosine-similarity v5 v6)))
      (is (< sim 0.3)))))