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coder/docs/reference
Michael Suchacz df1c0f9710 feat: show what a chat lifecycle hook changed (#27655)
## Stack Context

Follow-up fixes from live UAT of the merged chat lifecycle hooks stack
(#27430). Two PRs:

1. **This PR**: make hook effects visible and correctly attributed in
the transcript.
2. [`mike/chat-hooks-uat/dispatch-capacity`]: reserve dispatch capacity
so an admission burst can't fail running turns.

## Why?

UAT found three ways the transcript misrepresented what a lifecycle hook
did. All three are user-visible and share the same surface
(`chathooks/effects.go`, `codersdk.ChatMessagePart`, the conversation
timeline), so they're reviewed together.

**A prompt `input_override` silently discarded attachments.**
`ComposeUserPromptContent` replaced the entire submitted part list with
one text part, dropping `file` and `file-reference` parts along with
their `chat_file_links`. The user saw their attachments vanish with no
explanation. The override now replaces submitted *text* parts only and
preserves non-text parts in order. A consumer that wants to block
attachments uses `deny`, which is the documented mechanism for refusing
a submission.

**Every user-visible `system` row was labelled "Lifecycle hook".** The
timeline keyed the notice off `role === "system"`. That was correct only
by accident, because the hook `user_message` was the sole client-visible
system row. The backend now emits the notice as a typed `hook-notice`
part and the timeline renders on that, so a future system row can't be
mislabelled as a policy notice.

**Nothing marked a tool call the hook had rewritten.** A consumer could
replace tool input via `input_override` and the transcript showed the
rewritten input as if the model had produced it. `ChatMessagePart` gains
`hook_rewritten`, set from `preflight.Overrides` on the same path that
already carries `ToolCallCreatedAt`, and the tool row renders a
"Modified by policy" badge.

`ToolCall.PolicyProvider` renders the badge itself, at four wrap sites:
the `Tool` dispatch wrapper, the `ReadFilesTool` aggregate and its
per-file rows, and `ReadFileTimelineBlock` (grouped and single
`read_file` rows bypass `Tool`). Renderer props do not include the flag;
descendants consume it through the provider context.

The badge is emitted by the provider rather than by the shared header
because several renderer branches return early without one, including
the auth-required `execute` card, a completed `ask_user_question`, and
an empty question payload. Those branches would drop the attribution
with no type or runtime error, and the gap is not greppable: every
renderer file contains a header somewhere, only individual branches do
not. Emitting at the provider removes the possibility instead of
enumerating the cases.

A rewritten call is wrapped in a group labelled by its badge, so one
rewritten file inside a merged read is attributed on its own rather than
inheriting the group's badge. `HeaderButton` still appends the policy
wording to an explicit `ariaLabel`, since an explicit `aria-label`
replaces the name computed from descendants.

Provider-executed calls are excluded from attribution. Hooks never see
them, and duplicate tool-call ID rejection deliberately skips them, so a
reused ID would otherwise mark a provider-executed call as
policy-rewritten.

## Testing

Go: `coderd/x/chatd/...`, `coderd/x/agenthooks/...`, `codersdk/...`, and
`coderd -run 'Hook|Chat'`. Frontend: `tsc` plus every `AgentsPage`
story; the only failures are `MCP Tool Completed` and `Scroll To Bottom
Button Works With Inverse Scroll`, both of which fail on trunk.

A registry-wide story asserts every registered renderer shows the badge,
verified against three inverted toggles: removing the badge, hiding it
with `display:none`, and skipping the provider for one renderer (which
names that renderer). Storybook also covers the rewritten subagent
spawn, a completed empty question payload, a non-hook system message,
and a failed `read_file` guarding the accessible name.

> Mux opened this PR on Mike's behalf.
2026-08-03 18:27:39 +02:00
..