v9: new-topic helper — spawn fresh lane synchronously, queue heartbeat

[MagMueller]

Stacked on #216 (v8). One small new helper that fixes a doctrine awkwardness you called out.

Why

tg-schedule "+1 minute" --fresh "..." was being recommended as the way for the agent to spawn a fresh topic for a new project. But that's misusing the schedule API:

• The 1-minute delay is wrong UX (topic appears late).
• It's a one-shot — the spawned topic got an initial prompt and then nothing. No check-in 3 hours later. No heartbeat.
• "Schedule" reads wrong for a synchronous spawn.

What

agent/new-topic — a small Python helper (~140 LOC):

new-topic "<title>" "<initial prompt>"                       # default +1h heartbeat
new-topic "<title>" --heartbeat "+3 hours" "<prompt>"        # custom cadence
new-topic "<title>" --heartbeat none "<prompt>"              # one-shot, no follow-up

What it actually does:

1. createForumTopic synchronously — topic appears in Telegram immediately, no at-job delay.
2. bot.run_task to dispatch the initial prompt as the topic's first turn.
3. tg-schedule --repeat to queue the recurring heartbeat (skipped on --heartbeat none).
4. Prints {ok, chat_id, thread_id, title, heartbeat} as JSON so the caller can include a link in whatever it's posting back to the user.

/goal stays the user-driven autopilot trigger (no approvals). new-topic is the agent-driven copilot equivalent (default mode, draft + ask).

Changes

• agent/new-topic (new, +178 LOC)
• install.sh + agent/bootstrap.sh — install + symlink
• agent/system-prompt.md — "Spawning new topics" rewritten around new-topic

Tests

• 29 pass
• Syntax check
• On a box: new-topic "Test topic" "draft hello" — verify topic appears, first turn dispatches, atq shows a queued heartbeat
• new-topic "X" --heartbeat none "Y" — verify no heartbeat queued

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

---

Summary by cubic

Add new-topic to start a fresh Telegram topic instantly, send the first agent turn, and schedule a recurring heartbeat. Replaces the misuse of tg-schedule --fresh so new lanes appear now and keep getting follow‑ups.

• New Features
  • agent/new-topic CLI:
    • Creates the forum topic immediately and dispatches the first turn via bot.run_task.
    • Queues a recurring heartbeat with tg-schedule --repeat (default +1h; supports --heartbeat "+3 hours" or --heartbeat none).
    • Prints JSON {ok, chat_id, thread_id, title, heartbeat} for easy linking.
    • New lanes run in copilot mode; /goal stays the user-driven autopilot.
  • Added install/symlink in install.sh and agent/bootstrap.sh. Updated agent/system-prompt.md to use new-topic.

^{Written for commit d928d51. Summary will update on new commits. Review in cubic}

[cubic-dev-ai]

1 issue found across 4 files

Prompt for AI agents (unresolved issues)

Check if these issues are valid — if so, understand the root cause of each and fix them. If appropriate, use sub-agents to investigate and fix each issue separately.


<file name="agent/new-topic">

<violation number="1" location="agent/new-topic:151">
P2: Heartbeat scheduling failures are silently ignored, so the command can report success even when no recurring heartbeat was queued.</violation>
</file>

_{Reply with feedback, questions, or to request a fix. Tag @cubic-dev-ai to re-run a review, or fix all with cubic.
Re-trigger cubic}

[cubic-dev-ai]

P2: Heartbeat scheduling failures are silently ignored, so the command can report success even when no recurring heartbeat was queued.

Prompt for AI agents

Check if this issue is valid — if so, understand the root cause and fix it. At agent/new-topic, line 151:

<comment>Heartbeat scheduling failures are silently ignored, so the command can report success even when no recurring heartbeat was queued.</comment>

<file context>
@@ -0,0 +1,171 @@
+                    heartbeat_prompt,
+                ],
+                env=env_for_schedule,
+                check=False,
+                stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+                stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
</file context>