Piggybacks on #23878. Moves instruction file reading and skill discovery
from `chatd` (server-side, via multiple `LS`/`ReadFile` round-trips
through the agent connection) to the agent itself (local filesystem
access).
This intentionally drops backward compatibility with older agents that
don't support the context-config endpoint. Agents and server are
deployed together; there is no rolling-update contract to maintain here.
## What changed
The agent's `GET /api/v0/context-config` response now returns
`[]ChatMessagePart` directly — the same types chatd persists. This
eliminates intermediate type conversions and makes the protocol
extensible.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `parts` | `[]ChatMessagePart` | Context-file and skill parts, ready to
persist |
| `working_dir` | `string` | Agent's resolved working directory |
Removed from the response: `instructions_dirs`, `instructions_file`,
`skills_dirs`, `skill_meta_file`, `mcp_config_files` — the agent reads
files locally and returns their content as parts.
Removed from chatd: all legacy `LS`/`ReadFile` fallback code
(`readHomeInstructionFile`, `readInstructionDirFile`, `DiscoverSkills`
via LS, etc).
## Why
The previous architecture had the agent resolve paths, serve them over
HTTP, then `chatd` make N+1 round-trips back through the agent
connection to read files. The agent has direct filesystem access and
should just read the files.
## Key design decisions
- **Agent returns `ChatMessagePart` directly** — same types chatd
persists. No intermediate `InstructionFileEntry`/`SkillEntry` types
needed.
- **`SkillMeta.MetaFile`** — persisted via `ContextFileSkillMetaFile` on
the skill part, so custom meta file names
(`CODER_AGENT_EXP_SKILL_META_FILE`) survive across chat turns.
- **No pre-read body** — `read_skill` always dials the workspace to
fetch the skill body on demand. Simpler than caching the body in the
response.
- **MCP config paths kept agent-internal** — `MCPConfigFiles()` getter,
not sent over the wire.
- **No backward compat fallback** — old agents that don't support
context-config get no instruction files. This is acceptable since agent
and server deploy together.
Previously, `CreateChat` inserted the `chats` row with the DB default
status (`waiting`), then updated it to `pending` in the same transaction
via `setChatPendingWithStore`. This wasted two extra queries per chat
creation (`GetChatByID` + `UpdateChatStatus`) and rewrote the same row
immediately after inserting it.
Now `CreateChat` passes the status directly to `InsertChat`, so the row
is written once in its final create-time state. The
`setChatPendingWithStore` helper is removed entirely. `InsertChat` now
requires an explicit `status` parameter at all callsites instead of
relying on a DB column default.
## Motivation
On an experimental branch we're trialing firing all chatd notifications
from plpgsql triggers. The old two-step insert made that awkward: in an
`AFTER INSERT` trigger, `NEW` only contained the insert-time row
(`waiting`), not the final committed state (`pending`). To emit the
correct event payload the trigger had to be deferred and re-read the row
from `chats` at commit time.
With this change, `NEW` already contains the correct row to publish — no
deferred trigger, no extra `SELECT`, simpler and cheaper trigger logic.
That said, this seems like a worthwhile change regardless of the trigger
experiment: writing the final row state once removes unnecessary DB work
on every chat creation and makes the create path easier to reason about.
Replace hardcoded paths for instruction files, skills, and MCP config
with
values read from `CODER_AGENT_EXP_*` environment variables. Template
authors
configure paths via the existing `coder_agent` `env` block. The agent
resolves `~`, relative, and absolute paths locally, then serves the
resolved config over `GET /api/v0/context-config`. `chatd` fetches this
once per workspace attach and falls back to today's defaults for older
agents.
All path env vars are comma-separated, allowing multiple directories:
| Env Var | Default | Controls |
|---|---|---|
| `CODER_AGENT_EXP_INSTRUCTIONS_DIRS` | `~/.coder` | Dirs containing the
instruction file |
| `CODER_AGENT_EXP_INSTRUCTIONS_FILE` | `AGENTS.md` | Instruction file
name |
| `CODER_AGENT_EXP_SKILLS_DIRS` | `.agents/skills` | Skills directories
|
| `CODER_AGENT_EXP_SKILL_META_FILE` | `SKILL.md` | Skill metadata file
name |
| `CODER_AGENT_EXP_MCP_CONFIG_FILES` | `.mcp.json` | MCP config files |
### Example
```hcl
resource "coder_agent" "main" {
os = "linux"
arch = "amd64"
env = {
CODER_AGENT_EXP_INSTRUCTIONS_DIRS = "/opt/company/agent-config,~/.coder"
CODER_AGENT_EXP_INSTRUCTIONS_FILE = "CLAUDE.md"
CODER_AGENT_EXP_SKILLS_DIRS = "/opt/company/ai-skills,.agents/skills"
CODER_AGENT_EXP_MCP_CONFIG_FILES = "/opt/company/mcp.json,.mcp.json"
}
}
```
<details>
<summary>Implementation Details</summary>
### Architecture
Follows the same pattern as MCP tool discovery:
agent resolves locally → exposes via HTTP → chatd consumes.
**Agent-side** (`agent/agentcontextconfig/`):
- `ResolvePath` / `ResolvePaths` handle `~`, relative, and absolute path
forms; returns `""` for relative paths when baseDir is empty
- `Config` reads env vars, falls back to defaults, resolves all paths
- `GET /api/v0/context-config` serves the resolved config as JSON
**chatd-side** (`coderd/x/chatd/`):
- Calls `conn.ContextConfig()` once on first workspace attach
- Falls back to hardcoded defaults on 404 (older agents)
- Iterates instruction dirs, skills dirs using resolved absolute paths
- `LSRelativityRoot` everywhere — no more home/root juggling
### Key design decisions
- **`EXP_` prefix**: env vars use `CODER_AGENT_EXP_*` to indicate
experimental status
- **Plural names**: comma-separated vars use plural names (`DIRS`,
`FILES`); single-value vars use singular (`FILE`)
- **Defaults in `workspacesdk`**: default constants live in
`codersdk/workspacesdk/` so both agent and server reference them without
cross-layer imports
- **`skillMetaFile` persistence**: stored on context-file parts via
`ContextFileSkillMetaFile` and restored on subsequent chat turns so
custom values survive across turns
- **Working dir dedup**: `slices.Contains` guard prevents reading the
same instruction file from both `InstructionsDirs` and the working
directory
- **MCP server dedup**: first-occurrence-wins dedup prevents leaking
duplicate connections from overlapping config files
- **ResolvePath safety**: returns `""` for relative paths when `baseDir`
is empty, so `ResolvePaths` filters them out
### Files changed
| File | Change |
|---|---|
| `agent/agentcontextconfig/` | New package — path resolution + HTTP
endpoint |
| `codersdk/workspacesdk/agentconn.go` | `ContextConfigResponse` type,
default constants, client method |
| `agent/agent.go` + `agent/api.go` | Wire up endpoint, pass config to
MCP |
| `agent/x/agentmcp/manager.go` | Accept `[]string` MCP config paths,
dedup by name |
| `coderd/x/chatd/chatd.go` | Fetch config, thread through, named
returns |
| `coderd/x/chatd/instruction.go` | Accept configurable dir + file name,
`skillMetaFileFromParts` |
| `coderd/x/chatd/chattool/skill.go` | Accept configurable dirs + meta
file |
| `codersdk/chats.go` | `ContextFileSkillMetaFile` field for persistence
|
### Test coverage
- `TestConfig` (4 cases): defaults, custom env vars, whitespace
trimming, comma-separated dirs
- `TestResolvePath` / `TestResolvePaths`: including empty baseDir edge
case
- `TestPersistInstructionFilesFallbackOnOlderAgent`: backward-compat
path when `ContextConfig` returns 404
- `TestChatMessagePartVariantTags`: updated exclusion list for new
internal field
### Backward compatibility
Older agents return 404 for the new endpoint. `chatd` catches this and
falls back to today's defaults via `readHomeInstructionFile` (using
`LSRelativityHome`). Existing workspaces work with no changes.
</details>
Adds suffix-based agent selection for chatd. Template authors can direct
chat traffic to a specific root workspace agent by naming it with the
`-coderd-chat` suffix (for example, `coder_agent "dev-coderd-chat"`).
When no suffix match exists, chatd falls back to the first root agent by
`DisplayOrder`, then `Name`. Multiple suffix matches return an error.
The selection logic lives in `coderd/x/chatd/internal/agentselect` and
is shared by chatd core plus the workspace chat tools so all chat entry
points pick the same agent deterministically.
No database migrations, API contract changes, or provider changes. The
experimental sandbox template was split out to #23777.
Adds skill discovery and tools to chatd so the agent can discover and
load `.agents/skills/` from workspaces, following the same pattern as
AGENTS.md instruction loading and MCP tool discovery.
## What changed
### `chattool/skill.go` — discovery, loading, and tools
- **DiscoverSkills** — walks `.agents/skills/` via `conn.LS()` +
`conn.ReadFile()`, parses SKILL.md frontmatter (name + description),
validates kebab-case names match directory names, silently skips
broken/missing entries.
- **FormatSkillIndex** — renders a compact `<available-skills>` XML
block for system prompt injection (~60 tokens for 3 skills). Progressive
disclosure: only names + descriptions in context, full body loaded on
demand.
- **LoadSkillBody** / **LoadSkillFile** — on-demand loading with path
traversal protection and size caps (64KB for SKILL.md, 512KB for
supporting files).
- **read_skill** / **read_skill_file** tools — `fantasy.AgentTool`
implementations following the same pattern as ReadFile and
WorkspaceMCPTool. Receive pre-discovered `[]SkillMeta` via closure to
avoid re-scanning on every call.
### `chatd.go` — integration into runChat
- Skills discovered in the `g2` errgroup parallel with instructions and
MCP tools.
- `skillsCache` (sync.Map) per chat+agent, same invalidation pattern as
MCP tools cache.
- Skill index injected via `InsertSystem` after workspace instructions.
- Re-injected in `ReloadMessages` callback so it survives compaction.
- `read_skill` + `read_skill_file` tools registered when skills are
present (for both root and subagent chats).
- Cache cleaned up in `cleanupStreamIfIdle` alongside MCP tools cache.
## Format compatibility
Uses the same `.agents/skills/<name>/SKILL.md` format as
[coder/mux](https://github.com/coder/mux) and
[openai/codex](https://github.com/openai/codex).
Coder's chat (chatd) can now discover and use MCP servers configured in
a workspace's `.mcp.json` file. This brings project-specific tooling
(GitHub, databases, docs servers, etc.) into the chat without any manual
configuration.
## How it works
The workspace agent reads `.mcp.json` from the workspace directory (same
format Claude Code uses), connects to the declared MCP servers —
spawning child processes for stdio servers and connecting over the
network for HTTP/SSE — and caches their tool lists. Two new agent HTTP
endpoints expose this:
- `GET /api/v0/mcp/tools` returns the cached tool list (supports
`?refresh=true`)
- `POST /api/v0/mcp/call-tool` proxies calls to the correct server
On each chat turn, chatd calls `ListMCPTools` through the existing
`AgentConn` tailnet connection, wraps each tool as a
`fantasy.AgentTool`, and adds them to the LLM's tool set alongside
built-in and admin-configured MCP tools. Tool names are prefixed with
the server name (`github__create_issue`) to avoid collisions.
Failed server connections are logged and skipped — they never block the
agent or break the chat. Child stdio processes are terminated on agent
shutdown.
## Summary
This change removes the steady-state "resolve the latest workspace
agent" query from chat execution.
Instead of asking the database for the latest build's agent on every
turn, a chat now persists the workspace/build/agent binding it actually
uses and reuses that binding across subsequent turns. The common path
becomes "load the bound agent by ID and dial it", with fallback paths to
repair the binding when it is missing, stale, or intentionally changed.
## What changes
- add `workspace_id`, `build_id`, and `agent_id` binding fields to
`chats`
- expose those fields through the chat API / SDK so the execution
context is explicit
- load the persisted binding first in chatd, instead of always resolving
the latest build's agent
- persist a refreshed binding when chatd has to re-resolve the workspace
agent
- keep child / subagent chats on the same bound workspace context by
inheriting the parent binding
- leave `build_id` / `agent_id` unset for flows like `create_workspace`,
then bind them lazily on the next agent-backed turn
## Runtime behavior
The binding is treated as an optimistic cache of the agent a chat should
use:
- if the bound agent still exists and dials successfully, we use it
without a latest-build lookup
- if the bound agent is missing or no longer reachable, chatd
re-resolves against the latest build and persists the new binding
- if a workspace mutation changes the chat's target workspace, the
binding is updated as part of that mutation
To avoid reintroducing a hot-path query, dialing uses lazy validation:
- start dialing the cached agent immediately
- only validate against the latest build if the dial is still pending
after a short delay
- if validation finds a different agent, cancel the stale dial, switch
to the current agent, and persist the repaired binding
## Result
The hot path stops issuing
`GetWorkspaceAgentsInLatestBuildByWorkspaceID` for every user message,
which is the source of the DB pressure this PR is addressing. At the
same time, chats still converge to the correct workspace agent when the
binding becomes stale due to rebuilds or explicit workspace changes.
The `ComputerUseProviderTool` function needed a little bit of an
adjustment because I changed `NewComputerUseTool`'s signature in
upstream fantasy a little bit.
- Stores a deployment-wide agents template allowlist in `site_configs`
(`agents_template_allowlist`)
- Adds `GET/PUT /api/experimental/chats/config/template-allowlist`
endpoints
- Filters `list_templates`, `read_template`, and `create_workspace` chat
tools by allowlist, if defined (empty=all allowed)
- Add "Templates" admin settings tab in Agents UI ([what it looks
like](https://624de63c6aacee003aa84340-sitjilsyrr.chromatic.com/?path=/story/pages-agentspage-agentsettingspageview--template-allowlist))
> 🤖 This PR was created with the help of Coder Agents, and has been
reviewed by my human. 🧑💻
create_workspace could create a replacement workspace after a single 5s
agent dial failed, even when the existing workspace agent had recently
checked in. That made temporary reachability blips look like dead
workspaces and let chatd replace a running workspace too aggressively.
Use the workspace agent's DB-backed status with the deployment's
AgentInactiveDisconnectTimeout before allowing replacement. Recently
connected and still-connecting agents now reuse the existing workspace,
while disconnected or timed-out agents still allow a new workspace. This
also threads the inactivity timeout through chatd and adds focused
coverage for the reuse and replacement branches.
Adds a `propose_plan` tool that presents a workspace markdown file as a
dedicated plan card in the agent UI.
The workflow is: the agent uses `write_file`/`edit_files` to build a
plan file (e.g. `/home/coder/PLAN.md`), then calls `propose_plan(path)`
to present it. The backend reads the file via `ReadFile` and the
frontend renders it as an expanded markdown preview card.
**Backend** (`coderd/x/chatd/chattool/proposeplan.go`): new tool
registered as root-chat-only. Validates `.md` suffix, requires an
absolute path, reads raw file content from the workspace agent. Includes
1 MiB size cap.
**Frontend** (`site/src/components/ai-elements/tool/`): dedicated
`ProposePlanTool` component with `ToolCollapsible` + `ScrollArea` +
`Response` markdown renderer, expanded by default. Custom icon
(`ClipboardListIcon`) and filename-based label.
**System prompt** (`coderd/x/chatd/prompt.go`): added `<planning>`
section guiding the agent to research → write plan file → iterate → call
`propose_plan`.
The tool descriptions pushed agents toward backgrounding anything over
5 seconds, including builds, tests, and installs where you actually
want to wait for the result. This led to unnecessary process_output
round-trips and missed the foreground timeout-to-reattach workflow
entirely.
Reframe background mode as the exception (persistent processes with
no natural exit) and foreground with an appropriate timeout as the
default. Replace "background process" with "tracked process" in
process_output, process_list, and process_signal since they work on
all tracked processes regardless of how they were started.
- Moves `coderd/chatd/`, `coderd/gitsync/`, `enterprise/coderd/chatd/`
under `x/` parent directories to signal instability
- Adds `Experimental:` glue code comments in `coderd/coderd.go`
> 🤖 This PR was created with the help of Coder Agents, and was
reviewed by my human. 🧑💻
Kyle Carberry