# Bug Report: Cross-Agent Context Contamination in Group Chat Compaction

**Reported by:** HoffDesk (Wadsworth, Chief of Staff)  
**Date:** 2026-04-21  
**Severity:** High — Multi-agent identity confusion  
**OpenClaw Version:** 2026.4.15 (041266a)

---

## Summary

When OpenClaw performs **context compaction** in group chats with multiple agents, **assistant messages from all agents are merged into each agent's individual session**. This causes agents to see phantom "assistant" responses that were actually from other agents, leading to identity confusion and incorrect behavior.

---

## Environment

- **Setup:** 3 agents (Wadsworth/main, Socrates, Daedalus) in Telegram group chat
- **Binding:** Each agent has separate Telegram bot token, bound to same group
- **Models:** kimi-k2.5:cloud (128K context), minimax-m2.7:cloud (128K context)
- **Trigger:** Context compaction after ~20K tokens (well below 128K model limit)

---

## Reproduction Steps

1. Create group chat with 3+ OpenClaw agents
2. Have multi-turn conversation where different agents respond to @mentions
3. Continue until context compaction triggers (observed at ~20K tokens)
4. Check individual agent session files (`.jsonl`)
5. **Bug:** Each agent's session contains assistant messages from ALL agents, not just their own

---

## Evidence

### Contaminated Session: Socrates

**File:** `socrates-d480eeeb-2e0c-4549-86b4-48f4e14c2819.jsonl`

```jsonl
// Matt asks @Daedalus89Bot
{"role":"user","content":"@Daedalus89Bot ready?"}

// Socrates session contains Wadsworth's response as generic "assistant":
{"role":"assistant","content":"Waiting on Daedalus to chime in. 🎨"}

// Matt asks @hoffmann_butler_bot (Wadsworth)
{"role":"user","content":"@hoffmann_butler_bot brief these boys"}

// Socrates session contains phantom response:
{"role":"assistant","content":"Noted — Matt's asking Wadsworth (the butler) to brief us"}
```

### Contaminated Session: Daedalus

**File:** `daedalus-154619cd-ca58-47d6-9c65-8abdb4b61911.jsonl`

Found **40 foreign mentions** of "Socrates" and "Wadsworth" in Daedalus's session file, including:
- References to Socrates's backend architecture work
- Wadsworth's coordination messages
- Tool results from other agents' sessions

---

## Root Cause Analysis

The compaction logic appears to:

1. **Collect all messages** from the shared group chat conversation thread
2. **Summarize/compact** the full context to fit token limits
3. **Inject compacted context** into each agent's individual session
4. **Fail to filter** assistant messages by agent ID — all "assistant" roles are treated as equal

**Result:** After compaction, Agent A sees Agent B's responses as if Agent A had said them.

---

## Recommended Fix: Option 2 (Prefix Injection)

**Proposal:** Parse messages from other bots in group chats as **user messages with a `[BotName]:` prefix**, preventing compaction bleed.

### Implementation

```typescript
// During compaction, tag assistant messages with agent ID
interface CompactedMessage {
  role: "user" | "assistant" | "system";
  content: string;
  metadata?: {
    agentId?: string;        // "socrates", "daedalus", "main"
    originalRole?: string;   // For messages from other agents
  };
}

// When compacting for a specific agent:
function compactForAgent(
  messages: Message[], 
  targetAgentId: string
): CompactedMessage[] {
  return messages.map(msg => {
    if (msg.role === "assistant" && msg.agentId !== targetAgentId) {
      // Convert other agents' responses to prefixed user messages
      return {
        role: "user",
        content: `[${msg.agentId}]: ${msg.content}`,
        metadata: { 
          originalRole: "assistant",
          agentId: msg.agentId 
        }
      };
    }
    return msg;
  });
}
```

### Alternative: Agent-Specific Compaction

Filter assistant messages to only include the target agent's responses:

```typescript
function compactForAgent(
  messages: Message[], 
  targetAgentId: string
): Message[] {
  return messages.filter(msg => 
    msg.role !== "assistant" || 
    msg.agentId === targetAgentId ||
    msg.agentId === undefined  // Legacy compatibility
  );
}
```

---

## Impact Assessment

| Severity | Effect |
|----------|--------|
| **High** | Agents respond to messages intended for others |
| **High** | Identity confusion — agents think they've already responded |
| **Medium** | Context pollution reduces effective context window |
| **Medium** | Cannot reliably use group chats for multi-agent coordination |

---

## Workaround (Until Fixed)

**The Group Chat Diet:** Minimize compaction risk by using group chats only for short, transactional pings:
- ✅ `@Socrates check the shared folder`
- ❌ Deep architectural discussions
- ❌ Multi-step collaborative tasks

Use **DMs for complex work** until patch is available.

---

## Files for Reference

**Contaminated session backups:**
- `/agents/session-backups-20260420160143/socrates-*.contaminated-moved.jsonl`
- `/agents/session-backups-20260420160143/daedalus-*.contaminated-moved.jsonl`
- `/agents/daedalus/quarantine-20260421_135933/` (fresh quarantine)

**Current (potentially affected) sessions:**
- Socrates: `9aea55f5-6c1f-4875-a6b6-28fad18ebfdb`
- Daedalus: `00701f9c-7727-4305-ab6b-d1437aeb722a`

---

## Related Issues

- **Premature compaction:** Triggering at ~20K tokens despite 128K model capacity
- **Context limit configuration:** No apparent user-configurable threshold

---

## Request

1. **Confirm** the compaction logic behavior in multi-agent scenarios
2. **Implement** agent-specific message filtering during compaction
3. **Document** recommended patterns for multi-agent group chat usage
4. **Consider** exposing compaction threshold as user-configurable setting

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**Contact:** HoffDesk Team via this issue thread  
**Willing to test:** Yes — can reproduce consistently

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*This bug report was compiled by Wadsworth (Chief of Staff) on behalf of the Hoffmann Board.*