feat: Improve message compaction with proactive suggestions

- Change token usage threshold from 70% to 50% for compaction recommendations
- Add threshold-based status updates (send updates when usage exceeds 50%)
- Update documentation and tests to reflect these changes
- Make compaction recommendations more proactive at high usage

Author: bhouston

docs/features/message-compaction.md

@@ -14,13 +14,17 @@ This information is used to monitor context window usage and trigger appropriate
 
 ### 2. Status Updates
 
-Agents receive periodic status updates (every 5 interactions) with information about:
+Agents receive status updates with information about:
 - Current token usage and percentage of the maximum
 - Cost so far
 - Active sub-agents and their status
 - Active shell processes and their status
 - Active browser sessions and their status
 
+Status updates are sent:
+1. Every 5 agent interactions (periodic updates)
+2. Whenever token usage exceeds 50% of the maximum (threshold-based updates)
+
 Example status update:
 ```
 --- STATUS UPDATE ---
@@ -54,7 +58,7 @@ The `compactHistory` tool allows agents to compact their message history by summ
 
 ## Usage
 
-Agents are instructed to monitor their token usage through status updates and use the `compactHistory` tool when token usage approaches 70% of the maximum:
+Agents are instructed to monitor their token usage through status updates and use the `compactHistory` tool when token usage approaches 50% of the maximum:
 
 ```javascript
 // Example of agent using the compactHistory tool

example-status-update.md

@@ -19,13 +19,13 @@ Active Shell Processes: 3
 Active Browser Sessions: 1
 - bs_12345: https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/utility-types.html
 
-If token usage is high (>70%), consider using the 'compactHistory' tool to reduce context size.
+Your token usage is high (45%). It is recommended to use the 'compactHistory' tool now to reduce context size.
 --- END STATUS ---
 ```
 
 ## About Status Updates
 
-Status updates are sent periodically to the agent (every 5 interactions) to provide awareness of:
+Status updates are sent to the agent (every 5 interactions and whenever token usage exceeds 50%) to provide awareness of:
 
 1. **Token Usage**: Current usage and percentage of maximum context window
 2. **Cost**: Estimated cost of the session so far

packages/agent/src/core/toolAgent/__tests__/statusUpdates.test.ts

@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ describe('Status Updates', () => {
     expect(statusMessage.content).toContain('Active Shell Processes: 0');
     expect(statusMessage.content).toContain('Active Browser Sessions: 0');
     expect(statusMessage.content).toContain('compactHistory tool');
+    expect(statusMessage.content).toContain('If token usage gets high (>50%)');
+    expect(statusMessage.content).not.toContain('Your token usage is high');  // Not high enough
   });
 
   it('should include active agents, shells, and sessions', () => {
@@ -82,6 +84,8 @@ describe('Status Updates', () => {
 
     // Verify
     expect(statusMessage.content).toContain('Token Usage: 70,000/100,000 (70%)');
+    expect(statusMessage.content).toContain('Your token usage is high (70%)');
+    expect(statusMessage.content).toContain('recommended to use');
     expect(statusMessage.content).toContain('Active Sub-Agents: 2');
     expect(statusMessage.content).toContain('- agent1: Task 1');
     expect(statusMessage.content).toContain('- agent2: Task 2');

packages/agent/src/core/toolAgent/config.ts

@@ -146,8 +146,9 @@ export function getDefaultSystemPrompt(toolContext: ToolContext): string {
     '',
     '## Resource Management',
     'You will receive periodic status updates showing your token usage and active background tasks.',
-    'If your token usage approaches 70% of the maximum, use the compactHistory tool to reduce context size.',
+    'If your token usage approaches 50% of the maximum, you should use the compactHistory tool to reduce context size.',
     'The compactHistory tool will summarize older messages while preserving recent context.',
+    'Status updates are sent every 5 iterations and also whenever token usage exceeds 50% of the maximum.',
     '',
     'You prefer to call tools in parallel when possible because it leads to faster execution and less resource usage.',
     'When done, call the agentDone tool with your results to indicate that the sequence has completed.',

packages/agent/src/core/toolAgent/statusUpdates.ts

@@ -51,7 +51,9 @@ export function generateStatusUpdate(
     `Active Browser Sessions: ${activeSessions.length}`,
     ...activeSessions.map(s => `- ${s.id}: ${s.description}`),
     ``,
-    `If token usage is high (>70%), consider using the 'compactHistory' tool to reduce context size.`,
+    usagePercentage >= 50 
+      ? `Your token usage is high (${usagePercentage}%). It is recommended to use the 'compactHistory' tool now to reduce context size.`
+      : `If token usage gets high (>50%), consider using the 'compactHistory' tool to reduce context size.`,
     `--- END STATUS ---`,
   ].join('\n');
 

packages/agent/src/core/toolAgent/toolAgentCore.ts

@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ export const toolAgent = async (
 
   // Variables for status updates
   let statusUpdateCounter = 0;
-  const STATUS_UPDATE_FREQUENCY = 5; // Send status every 5 iterations
+  const STATUS_UPDATE_FREQUENCY = 5; // Send status every 5 iterations by default
+  const TOKEN_USAGE_THRESHOLD = 50; // Send status update when usage is above 50%
 
   for (let i = 0; i < config.maxIterations; i++) {
     logger.debug(
@@ -157,24 +158,27 @@ export const toolAgent = async (
 
     tokenTracker.tokenUsage.add(tokenUsage);
 
-    // Store token information for status updates
-    lastResponseTotalTokens = totalTokens;
-    lastResponseMaxTokens = maxTokens;
-    
-    // Send periodic status updates
+    // Send status updates based on frequency and token usage threshold
     statusUpdateCounter++;
-    if (statusUpdateCounter >= STATUS_UPDATE_FREQUENCY && totalTokens && maxTokens) {
-      statusUpdateCounter = 0;
-      
-      const statusMessage = generateStatusUpdate(
-        totalTokens,
-        maxTokens,
-        tokenTracker,
-        localContext
-      );
+    if (totalTokens && maxTokens) {
+      const usagePercentage = Math.round((totalTokens / maxTokens) * 100);
+      const shouldSendByFrequency = statusUpdateCounter >= STATUS_UPDATE_FREQUENCY;
+      const shouldSendByUsage = usagePercentage >= TOKEN_USAGE_THRESHOLD;
 
-      messages.push(statusMessage);
-      logger.debug('Sent status update to agent');
+      // Send status update if either condition is met
+      if (shouldSendByFrequency || shouldSendByUsage) {
+        statusUpdateCounter = 0;
+        
+        const statusMessage = generateStatusUpdate(
+          totalTokens,
+          maxTokens,
+          tokenTracker,
+          localContext
+        );
+        
+        messages.push(statusMessage);
+        logger.debug(`Sent status update to agent (token usage: ${usagePercentage}%)`);
+      }
     }
 
     if (!text.length && toolCalls.length === 0) {