0.2.1-alpha.2 regression: the agent loop no longer registers the cwd prompt variable, so every preset that interpolates {{cwd}} fails every turn

[yiyunet]

Summary

In 0.2.1-alpha.2 the agent loop registers only provider and model as prompt variables. The cwd registration that exists in 0.2.0-rc.2 — and in the published dsh-agent-loop@0.1.7-rc.2 tarball — is absent. Because the shipped bundles and presets place Your working directory is {{cwd}}. in the persona suffix, this is not limited to custom configurations: every preset that interpolates {{cwd}} fails 100% of turns on this version, before any model request is made.

Reproduction

1. Run 0.2.1-alpha.2 (source checkout or published package).
2. Use any preset whose persona (deployment:persona-prefix or -suffix) contains {{cwd}}, including the shipped wording Your working directory is {{cwd}}.
3. Send a message, or simply start a turn.

Source-level confirmation on dsh-v0.2.1-alpha.2 (merge commit d743267388, 2026-10-09):

$ grep -n "systemPrompt.variable" packages/core/agent-loop/src/index.ts
389:    ctx.systemPrompt.variable('provider', context => context.agent?.options.provider)
390:    ctx.systemPrompt.variable('model', context => context.agent?.options.model)

The same file in 0.2.0-rc.2 has three registrations:

370:    ctx.systemPrompt.variable('provider', ...)
371:    ctx.systemPrompt.variable('model', ...)
372:    ctx.systemPrompt.variable('cwd', context => context.agent?.session.header.cwd)

A repo-wide search shows no replacement registration: grep -rn "systemPrompt.variable" packages returns only these two production sites plus tests.

Current behavior

Every turn fails during prompt assembly, before the request is built:

unknown prompt variable "{{cwd}}" in section "deployment:persona-prefix"; registered variables: provider, model

The published registered variables list is exactly the two-line registry above, which is what makes the missing third entry visible from the error text alone.

Expected behavior

Restore the registration. cwd is a documented prompt variable and the shipped presets depend on it:

• packages/core/system-prompt/README.md: "the loop supplies model and cwd", with the example ctx.systemPrompt.variable('cwd', ({ agent }) => agent?.session.header.cwd)
• .agents/notes/implemented/architecture/2026-07-05-prompt-variables-and-tool-guidance-ownership.md: the loop registers model and cwd as pure projections of the context agent
• .agents/notes/implemented/bug-fix/2026-09-06-environment-prompt-suffix.md: the shipped Web/headless/SDK/ACP bundles and the standard/PTC/Cordis presets place Your working directory is {{cwd}}. in deployment:persona-suffix

Nothing in the source suggests the removal was intentional. The two remaining registrations stand alone with no comment, no conditional, and no replacement registration elsewhere, and the same constructor still reads cwd from its own config one block later:

    ctx.effect(() => ctx.agents.setFactory(this), 'agentLoop.setFactory()')
    ctx.systemPrompt.variable('provider', context => context.agent?.options.provider)
    ctx.systemPrompt.variable('model', context => context.agent?.options.model)

    for (const { id, sessionId, cwd, resumeSessionId, ...options } of this.config.agents) {

If the removal was in fact deliberate, then it needs to be recorded as a breaking change with a migration path — the working_directory tool and session-working-directory SDK APIs introduced in this same release — because the current documentation and the shipped presets still treat {{cwd}} as available.

Environment

• @deepseek-ai/dsh 0.2.1-alpha.2 — source checkout dsh-v0.2.1-alpha.2, merge commit d743267388 (2026-10-09, PR feat(session-title): support throttling all-prompts title revisions (e.g. every N prompts / idle debounce) #5946); apps/cli/package.json and packages/core/agent-loop/package.json both report 0.2.1-alpha.2
• macOS arm64 (Mac mini), Node v24.19.0
• Launch: pnpm dsh web (source launcher); reproduced with the source checkout
• Baselines compared: 0.2.0-rc.2 source (three registrations) and the published @deepseek-ai/dsh-agent-loop@0.1.7-rc.2 (lib/index.js:1549-1551, three registrations)
• Duplicate check: no upstream report matches this shape. Every existing unknown prompt variable report lists provider, model, cwd (for example Bug: unknown prompt variable "{{hexagon}}" in section "tools:sdk" under code-mode presets with drawio MCP #3454, PTC 呈现下，工具描述中的字面量 {{...}} 被当作提示词变量，导致每轮请求组装失败 #6537, and the handbook troubleshooting page). The only neighbouring persona-section report, 复用会话 resume 时 persona prefix 的 {{model}}/{{cwd}} 无值（dsh web 重启后必现） #7730, is the opposite branch — prompt variable "{{cwd}}" has no value for this assembly (registered but valueless), not "unknown" / unregistered.

[PerryLink]

先确认你的观察是对的，但结论要翻过来：这不是回归，是有意移除 —— 而且官方给了迁移指引和一个专门的回归测试。

1. 你看到的代码状态属实（版本也没过期）

packages/core/agent-loop/src/index.ts:389-390 确实只有两条：

ctx.systemPrompt.variable('provider', …)
ctx.systemPrompt.variable('model', …)

我复核了 git rev-list --count d743267388..origin/master = 0 ⇒ 你标的 0.2.1-alpha.2 就是当前 master。所以"注册少了一条"这个事实没问题，问题在定性。

2. ⚠️ 这是有意的，理由是"可变信息不该进可复用的 prompt 前缀"

移除来源 git log -S"systemPrompt.variable('cwd'" -- packages/core/agent-loop/src/index.ts 只有一条命中：

79bd3d8da7  feat(session): centralize working directories and directory context   (2026-09-13)

它的 diff 恰好删掉一行 - ctx.systemPrompt.variable('cwd', context => context.agent?.session.header.cwd)。

同一批新增的决策记录 .agents/notes/implemented/architecture/2026-09-13-session-working-directory.md 把它写明了：

• Problem 段 → "Putting mutable directory information in the system prompt changes the reusable prompt prefix."
• Alternatives 段 → "Keep directory text in the system prompt." 被列在已否决一侧，理由是 "Mutable operational context belongs after retained history, using the same user-context mechanism as permission state."

⇒ 也就是说：目录每变一次就会打断可复用的 prompt 前缀，所以维护者把它从 system prompt 变量移到了"用户上下文"通道。这是取舍，不是漏注册。

3. 官方迁移指引就在同一仓库的 README 里

packages/core/system-prompt/README.md:78：

Custom persona templates must not depend on a built-in {{cwd}} variable: the loop does not register it, so unresolved references fail prompt assembly before any model request. Remove the "Your working directory is {{cwd}}." clause from home, profile, or invocation personaSuffix settings and preset suffix fields…

:72 还给了替代者：

The loop supplies provider and model; plugins can register the facts they own. The working-directory service supplies directory text as literal user context.

⇒ 你抱怨的那个报错，文档把它写成使用者需要做的迁移，并给了替代能力。

4. 而且有一条回归测试把这个报错锁成了期望行为

packages/core/system-prompt/tests/system-prompt.spec.ts:205-211：

await ctx.plugin(SystemPrompt, { personaPrefix: 'Model {{model}}.', personaSuffix: 'Workspace {{cwd}}.' })
…
.toThrow('unknown prompt variable "{{cwd}}" in section "deployment:persona-suffix"')

报错串本体在 packages/core/system-prompt/src/index.ts:363：

throw new Error(`unknown prompt variable "{{${name}}}" in ${kind} "${input.name}"; registered variables: ${…}`)

—— 与你贴的 registered variables: provider, model 逐字吻合。

⇒ 所以"恢复注册"这条诉求大概率会被拒（它会撤销一个刻意的设计决定并让那条测试失效）。建议把诉求改成"要么让这个失败在迁移期更可见，要么在变更记录里显式标为 breaking change" —— 后者你其实已经提了，而且基本已经成立（README + 决策记录 + 测试都在）。

5. ⚠️ 一处需要更正：「shipped bundles and presets 里仍内插 {{cwd}}」——不成立

我把 master 上 {{cwd}} 的全部命中过了一遍，只剩这些：

• packages/core/system-prompt/README.md:78 与 README.zh.md:78（就是你引的迁移段）
• system-prompt.spec.ts（163/205/210/691/744/748）、persona.spec.ts（29/31）—— 测试
• packages/test-support/session-snapshot/src/normalize.ts:19 等 —— 快照归一化占位符
• apps/cli/tests/**/*.expected.jsonl —— 固化夹具

没有任何 bundle / preset 配置内插它。 packages/bundle/base/cordis.patch.yml:495 是 personaPrefix: ''。

⚠️ 这里有个很容易踩的陷阱，请在报告里避开：apps/cli/tests/profiles/**/session.expected.jsonl 里有 "cwd":"{{cwd}}" 和 Current working directory: "{{cwd}}". —— 极易被读成"线上 preset 仍在用"。实际上前者是 normalize.ts 把真实临时路径折叠成的占位符，后者是 working-directory 的用户上下文文本，不是 {{cwd}} 变量。如果报告里引了它，会立刻被推翻。

6. 迁移时间线（可以直接写进报告，你的对照其实半对）

git tag --contains 79bd3d8da7 → 只有 dsh-v0.2.1-alpha.2。所以：

版本	三注册（含 cwd）？
dsh-v0.2.0-rc.2（2026-09-29）	有
dsh-v0.2.1-alpha.1（2026-10-03）	有
dsh-v0.2.1-alpha.2（2026-10-09）	无

⇒ 你说"0.2.0-rc.2 有、alpha.2 没有"是对的，但真正的分界线是 alpha.1 → alpha.2，不是 rc.2 → alpha.2。把这条改准，时间线部分就完全站得住了。

7. 你该怎么办

不要请求恢复注册。可做的是二选一：

1. 迁移：从 home / profile / 单次调用的 personaSuffix 与 preset suffix 字段里删掉 Your working directory is {{cwd}}.（后缀没别的内容就留空）。需要目录文本时，依赖 working-directory 的用户上下文，或用 working_directory({ cd? }) 工具读写 —— 二者都已随基础 bundle 挂载（packages/bundle/base/cordis.patch.yml 里的 working-directory 与 tool-working-directory 两行）。
2. 提改进：如果你认为这个失败应当更可见（比如在 preset 加载期就报，而不是每轮组装期），那是新诉求，可以提 —— 但要说清它不改变"不再注册 cwd"这个决定。

⚠️ 顺带一句：自己注册一个插件变量技术上可行但方向相反 —— 它会在每次组装求值，而目录可变 ⇒ 会污染可复用的 prompt 前缀，这正是当初移除它的理由。如果这么做，建议先说明你接受这个代价。

[kinght1510]

Confirming this regression is still present on the published 0.2.1-rc.2 Windows desktop build (FileVersion 0.2.1-rc.2, installed 2026-10-17), not only on the alpha.2 checkout.

Environment: Windows 11 x64, Node 24.21.0 bundled with the desktop runtime, profile desktop. Three local presets (zengke-standard, zengke-ptc, zengke-ai) all failed with the same verbatim error on the first turn of every new session:

unknown prompt variable "{{cwd}}" in section "deployment:persona-suffix"; registered variables: provider, model

Source-level confirmation in the installed runtime: dsh-agent-loop registers only provider and model; dsh-working-directory supplies a working-directory:current dynamic context instead. Any preset that still contains Your working directory is {{cwd}}. fails 100% of turns before a model request.

Workaround that worked: remove {{cwd}} from the preset persona suffix and rely on working-directory:current; the same session then completes with a real tool call.

Suggestion beyond restoring the registration: validate prompt-variable names at profile composition time (when preset strings are loaded) and fail with the variable name, the section, and the registered list. Right now the preset looks valid and the error only appears on turn start, after the session has been created; that is the expensive part to diagnose.