Three prompt fixes addressing real failure modes observed in dev
journal data (conv 312, May 23):
curator.py — JOURNAL_CALIBRATION:
1. Strengthen the one-call-per-beat rule. Previous wording said 'do
not collapse multiple beats' but didn't explicitly forbid the
reverse: multiple record_moment calls for the SAME beat with
different phrasings. Observed in moments 7+8, 9+10, 11+14, 12+15,
13+16 — same content captured twice within a single curator pass.
New rule: explicit 'EXACTLY ONE tool call per distinct beat', plus
a 'check whether you already recorded this beat this turn' step.
2. Rewrite the save_person/save_place guidance. Previous wording
over-emphasized 'better to skip than invent' to the point that
the curator ignored explicit user introductions like 'my father's
name is Dale and my mother's name is Lynn, we went to Olive Garden'
— no save_person for Dale or Lynn, no save_place for Olive Garden.
The conservative-skip rule should apply to AMBIGUOUS mentions
('a friend told me'), not to explicit introductions. New rule
spells this out with positive examples.
journal_prep.py — _PREP_SYSTEM_PROMPT:
Extend the no-invent guards. The existing rule covered weather
specifically; today's prep added new fabrications:
- 'tasks due today include X' when tasks_due_today is empty and X is
actually 64 days overdue
- 'at 1:00 PM' when no time exists in the data
- 'currently in progress' applied to tasks where status is 'todo'
Three new rules: (a) never invent a task's due status — frame by the
bucket it actually appears under; (b) never invent times of day —
tasks have dates, not times; (c) never paraphrase a task's status
to something the data doesn't say.
journal_pipeline.py — JOURNAL_CALIBRATION:
1. Promote the one-question rule from buried bullet to top of the
prompt, with stronger phrasing ('ONE question per reply, MAXIMUM
... if you find yourself writing a second question mark, delete
it'). Observed: 3 questions per reply in every conv 312 assistant
turn ('how was it? what'd you order? did she enjoy it?').
2. Add explicit no-fishing rule: don't ask the user to share pictures,
send details, fetch information for the model. Reacts to what they
actually said, not what they didn't. Observed: 'do you have any
pictures you can share?' on msg 789.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
bvandeusen
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