ZBBS-WORK-396: MCP initialize instructions are pointer-only; payload lives solely in read_instructions#233
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…lives solely in read_instructions The initialize response used to carry global_bootstrap + the agent's startup_instructions, with the 'call read_instructions' pointer only as a fallback when both were empty. That had three defects: - Clients that honor the field (Claude Code) received the payload twice: once at initialize, again from read_instructions. - A non-empty startup_instructions displaced the pointer, so those agents were never told to call read_instructions — and silently missed the dream bootstrap + soul, which only ride the tool. - claude.ai drops the field entirely (anthropics/claude-ai-mcp#93), so payload delivered this way never reached those models at all (sirius42's identity doc never arrived once). Now: initialize always sends just the pointer; read_instructions remains the single payload channel; and the read_instructions tool description carries the same call-this-first nudge, since tool descriptions are the only model-visible channel claude.ai reliably delivers. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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…lives solely in read_instructions (#233) The initialize response used to carry global_bootstrap + the agent's startup_instructions, with the 'call read_instructions' pointer only as a fallback when both were empty. That had three defects: - Clients that honor the field (Claude Code) received the payload twice: once at initialize, again from read_instructions. - A non-empty startup_instructions displaced the pointer, so those agents were never told to call read_instructions — and silently missed the dream bootstrap + soul, which only ride the tool. - claude.ai drops the field entirely (anthropics/claude-ai-mcp#93), so payload delivered this way never reached those models at all (sirius42's identity doc never arrived once). Now: initialize always sends just the pointer; read_instructions remains the single payload channel; and the read_instructions tool description carries the same call-this-first nudge, since tool descriptions are the only model-visible channel claude.ai reliably delivers. Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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What
Two changes in
node/api/src/routes/mcp.js:createMcpServer: the initialize response'sinstructionsfield now always sends the one-line pointer ("call the read_instructions tool at the start of every conversation") instead of global_bootstrap + the agent's startup_instructions.read_instructionstool description: now describes the full payload (instructions, context, soul) and carries the same call-this-first nudge.Why
The old initialize block had three defects:
read_instructions— paid in context every session. We only never noticed because work/home have empty startup_instructions.startup_instructionsreplaced the fallback pointer, so exactly the agents with instructions set were never told to callread_instructions— and silently missed the dream bootstrap + soul, which only ride the tool.End state: payload lives in exactly one place (
read_instructions, unchanged — bootstrap + startup_instructions + dream bootstrap + soul); the trigger lives in two tiny redundant places (initialize for honoring clients, tool description for claude.ai). The REST pull route/agent/instructions/readis untouched.No migration, no schema change. Syntax-checked with
node --check.— Work
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