fix: prevent token exhaustion causing zero-output agentic workflow runs#2850
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…without safe output Root cause: Agent exhausted ~23M/25M token budget on data gathering/analysis and session terminated before reaching PR creation phase (no safe output call). Changes: - 00-base-contract.md: Add Rule #9 (mandatory safe output), Timer C (token budget), mid-run checkpoint warning, strengthen output contract - 01-bash-and-shell-safety.md: Add mandatory mid-run checkpoint at minute 20 with escalation policy for token-budget awareness - 07-commit-and-pr.md: Rewrite deadline enforcement with Timer C, token-budget awareness tips, and noop fallback if PR call fails - news-month-ahead.md: Add token-budget awareness warning to time budget section - news-quarter-ahead.md, news-year-ahead.md, news-election-cycle.md: Add same token-budget awareness warning (all Tier-C aggregation workflows) Closes #2849 Co-authored-by: pethers <1726836+pethers@users.noreply.github.com>
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[WIP] Fix workflow failure in News: Month Ahead
fix: prevent token exhaustion causing zero-output agentic workflow runs
May 31, 2026
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News: Month Ahead workflow consumed 23M/25M tokens on MCP data gathering, then session terminated before any safe output call — producing zero value from a 20-minute run.
Root cause
Token budget (~25M) is the binding constraint for opus models doing heavy MCP work, not the 60-minute time limit. The agent can exhaust tokens in ~20 minutes without ever reaching the PR creation phase. Existing prompts only enforced time-based deadlines.
Changes
Shared prompt modules (apply to all news workflows):
00-base-contract.md— Added Rule Bump actions/checkout from 4.3.1 to 6.0.2 #9 (MANDATORY safe output call before exit), Timer C (token budget as binding constraint), critical mid-run checkpoint at minute 2001-bash-and-shell-safety.md— Added mandatory mid-run checkpoint with diagnostic script and escalation policy: compress scope → minimal PR →safeoutputs___noopfallback07-commit-and-pr.md— Rewrote deadline enforcement with Timer C awareness, token-budget tips (batch MCP calls, avoid re-reads of large files), mandatorysafeoutputs___noopif PR creation failsWorkflow-level reinforcement (Tier-C aggregation workflows most at risk):
news-month-ahead.md,news-quarter-ahead.md,news-year-ahead.md,news-election-cycle.md— Added 🔴 token-budget awareness warning: checkagent_minutebefore every phase transition, compress scope if ≥20 min with no artifacts on diskKey enforcement mechanism