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Formic v0.7.0 - Concurrent Agent Execution & Self-Healing Infrastructure

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@rickywo rickywo released this 08 Mar 09:54
· 583 commits to main since this release
v0.7.0
6d7bcc9

Highlights

This is a major infrastructure release that transforms Formic from a single-task sequential executor into a concurrent, self-healing agent orchestration platform. Multiple agents now execute tasks in parallel with file-level conflict prevention. High-level goals are automatically decomposed into dependency-aware task graphs. A built-in verification loop detects errors and creates fix tasks automatically. Agents learn from past mistakes through persistent memory.

Install

npm install -g @rickywo/formic

Upgrade

npm update -g @rickywo/formic

What's New

Lease-Based File Concurrency

  • Multiple agents execute tasks in parallel with file-level conflict prevention
  • Exclusive leases: One task at a time per file (write access)
  • Shared leases: Multiple tasks can hold read-only access simultaneously
  • Optimistic concurrency on shared files via git hash-object collision detection
  • Task yielding with exponential backoff (2s → 60s) when lease conflicts arise
  • Priority-based lease preemption for high-priority tasks
  • DFS-based deadlock detection and automatic resolution
  • Lease persistence to .formic/leases.json for crash recovery

Goal Task Decomposition (DAG Scheduling)

  • New goal task type for high-level objectives
  • Architect skill decomposes goals into 3–8 dependency-aware child tasks
  • Child tasks are linked via parentGoalId / childTaskIds
  • DAG dependency resolution: blocked tasks auto-queue when all dependencies reach done
  • Cycle detection with fallback to flat execution

Self-Healing Execution Loops

  • Configurable verification step (VERIFY_COMMAND) runs post-execution
  • Automatic retry on verification failure with safe-point rollback
  • Auto-creates high-priority fix tasks when errors persist
  • Kill switch pauses queue after max retries to prevent infinite loops
  • Git safe-point commits before each task execution for rollback support

Persistent Agent Memory

  • Memory store at .formic/memory.json captures lessons learned
  • Relevance scoring: tag overlap (+2), file path boost (+3), recency decay
  • Top 5 relevant memories injected into agent context per task
  • Memory types: pattern, pitfall, preference

Reusable Tool Forging

  • Agents can create and register shell commands during execution
  • Tool catalog persisted at .formic/tools/tools.json
  • Registered tools injected into agent prompts for reuse
  • Validation enforces kebab-case names and non-empty fields

Lease Watchdog

  • Background scanner (30s interval) cleans up expired leases
  • Kills orphaned agent processes and reverts uncommitted changes
  • Re-queues affected tasks and runs deadlock detection
  • Configurable via WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS

DAG-Aware Queue Prioritization

  • 4-tier scoring algorithm for optimal task ordering:
    1. Fix-task bonus (+1000) for self-healing fast-path
    2. Unblocking potential (+100 per transitively blocked task)
    3. Manual priority (high/medium/low)
    4. FIFO age tiebreaker
  • Queue analysis API endpoint for observability

New Task Statuses

Status Description
declaring Task is declaring which files it will modify
architecting Goal task being decomposed into child tasks
verifying Post-execution verification in progress
blocked Waiting for DAG dependencies to complete

UI Enhancements

  • New verifying kanban column (6-column board layout)
  • Goal task, child task, and blocked badges on task cards
  • Dependency pills showing blocked-by relationships
  • Task type selector (standard / quick / goal) in creation form
  • Light and dark theme support for all new elements

CLI Improvement

  • formic start no longer requires formic init first — auto-initializes on startup

Internal Events Bus

  • Lightweight EventEmitter for decoupled service communication
  • TASK_COMPLETED and LEASE_RELEASED events wake the queue processor immediately

New API Endpoints

Method Endpoint Description
GET /api/tasks/:id/children Get child tasks for a goal
POST /api/tasks/:id/lease/acquire Acquire file leases
POST /api/tasks/:id/lease/release Release file leases
POST /api/tasks/:id/lease/renew Renew file leases
GET /api/leases List all active leases
GET /api/tasks/:id/declared-files Get file declarations
GET /api/queue/analysis Queue scoring breakdown
GET /api/tools List registered tools
POST /api/tools Register a new tool

Environment Variables

Variable Default Description
MAX_CONCURRENT_TASKS 1 Maximum parallel task executions
MAX_YIELD_COUNT 50 Max lease-conflict yields before skipping
VERIFY_COMMAND (empty) Shell command for post-execution verification
SKIP_VERIFY false Skip verification step entirely
WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS 30000 Lease watchdog scan interval (ms)

New Skills

Skill Description
architect Decomposes a goal into 3–8 child tasks with dependency graph
declare Analyzes task plan to declare exclusive/shared file lists for lease acquisition

Test Suite

10 new test files covering the concurrency infrastructure:

  • Lease acquisition and conflict detection
  • DAG dependency resolution and priority scoring
  • Lease preemption and deadlock detection
  • Memory persistence and relevance scoring
  • Queue scoring algorithm validation
  • Verification step and self-healing retry loops
  • Safe-point commits and rollback
  • Tool registration and usage tracking
  • End-to-end integration scenarios

Full Changelog

v0.5.1...v0.7.0

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