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#3126 Session-start 'swamp model search --json' in the AGENTS.md template is unfulfillable - wire it to a hook or drop it
Opened by maphew · 10/7/2026
The managed AGENTS.md Getting Started section instructs the agent to run 'swamp model search --json' at the start of every conversation, and to read swamp-getting-started when it returns nothing.
Observed 2026-10-07 (myswamp, Kilo 7.8.3): the agent never ran it across a full implementation session. Two structural reasons:
- It is a permanent no-op on any instance that already has models provisioned - the check only matters on a fresh install, yet it is charged to every session.
- Hosted agents (Kilo) expose no session-start hook surface. kilo.json supports commands (user-invoked), agents, MCP servers, skills, and permissions, but no session-start event. The instruction has nothing to wire to; it can only be obeyed by agent goodwill, and it is not.
Local workarounds are dead ends: the section is regenerated by 'swamp repo upgrade', so deleting it locally is futile, and an MCP server started just to run the check is over-engineering.
Request: either provide a real session-start event/hook and wire the onboarding tripwire to it, or drop the instruction from the template and detect new users some other way.
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stack72 commented 10/8/2026, 5:05:46 PM
Hi @maphew, thanks for raising this. The current AGENTS.md text is guidance for the agent, not a request to configure a Kilo session-start hook.
An agent can fulfill it by running swamp model search --json as its first action after receiving the repository instructions. Kilo lacking a native session-start event means that behavior is not independently enforced, but it does not make the instruction unfulfillable.
The observed session therefore appears to be an agent-instruction compliance failure rather than a Swamp CLI or template bug. If the goal is to make onboarding detection automatic or avoid the repeated check once a repository has models, that would be better framed as a feature request.
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