Fix chat memory persistence, duplicate tool calls, and heartbeat log noise

- Agent: deduplicate tool calls across iterations, reduce max iterations
  10→5, add system prompt instructions to prevent re-calling tools
- Router: preserve tool name in history messages, add anti-loop and
  delegate_task instructions to system prompt
- Memory: auto_flush now deletes flushed messages from DB so conversations
  don't get re-summarized repeatedly, skip tool results in summaries
- DB: add delete_messages() method, include message id in get_messages()
- Scheduler: stop logging routine heartbeat checks to daily log

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

cheddahbot/agent.py

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ from .router import build_system_prompt, format_messages_for_llm
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS = 10
+MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS = 5
 
 
 class Agent:
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ class Agent:
         messages = format_messages_for_llm(system_prompt, history, self.config.memory.max_context_messages)
 
         # Agent loop: LLM call → tool execution → repeat
+        seen_tool_calls: set[str] = set()  # track (name, args_json) to prevent duplicates
+
         for iteration in range(MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS):
             full_response = ""
             tool_calls = []
@@ -89,10 +91,28 @@ class Agent:
                     self.db.add_message(conv_id, "assistant", full_response, model=self.llm.current_model)
                 break
 
+            # Filter out duplicate tool calls
+            unique_tool_calls = []
+            for tc in tool_calls:
+                call_key = f"{tc['name']}:{json.dumps(tc.get('input', {}), sort_keys=True)}"
+                if call_key in seen_tool_calls:
+                    log.warning("Skipping duplicate tool call: %s", tc["name"])
+                    continue
+                seen_tool_calls.add(call_key)
+                unique_tool_calls.append(tc)
+
+            if not unique_tool_calls:
+                # All tool calls were duplicates — force the model to respond
+                if full_response:
+                    self.db.add_message(conv_id, "assistant", full_response, model=self.llm.current_model)
+                else:
+                    yield "(I already have the information needed to answer.)"
+                break
+
             # Store assistant message with tool calls
             self.db.add_message(
                 conv_id, "assistant", full_response,
-                tool_calls=[{"name": tc["name"], "input": tc["input"]} for tc in tool_calls],
+                tool_calls=[{"name": tc["name"], "input": tc["input"]} for tc in unique_tool_calls],
                 model=self.llm.current_model,
             )
 
@@ -100,8 +120,8 @@ class Agent:
             if self._tools:
                 messages.append({"role": "assistant", "content": full_response or "I'll use some tools to help with that."})
 
-                for tc in tool_calls:
+                for tc in unique_tool_calls:
-                    yield f"\n\n🔧 **Using tool: {tc['name']}**\n"
+                    yield f"\n\n**Using tool: {tc['name']}**\n"
                     try:
                         result = self._tools.execute(tc["name"], tc.get("input", {}))
                     except Exception as e:
@@ -114,7 +134,7 @@ class Agent:
                 # No tool system configured - just mention tool was requested
                 if full_response:
                     self.db.add_message(conv_id, "assistant", full_response, model=self.llm.current_model)
-                for tc in tool_calls:
+                for tc in unique_tool_calls:
                     yield f"\n(Tool requested: {tc['name']} - tool system not yet initialized)\n"
                 break
         else:

cheddahbot/db.py

@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ class Database:
 
     def get_messages(self, conv_id: str, limit: int = 100) -> list[dict]:
         rows = self._conn.execute(
-            """SELECT role, content, tool_calls, tool_result, model, created_at
+            """SELECT id, role, content, tool_calls, tool_result, model, created_at
                FROM messages WHERE conv_id = ? ORDER BY created_at ASC LIMIT ?""",
             (conv_id, limit),
         ).fetchall()
@@ -137,6 +137,16 @@ class Database:
         ).fetchone()
         return row["cnt"]
 
+    def delete_messages(self, message_ids: list[int]):
+        """Delete messages by their IDs (used by auto_flush)."""
+        if not message_ids:
+            return
+        placeholders = ",".join("?" for _ in message_ids)
+        self._conn.execute(
+            f"DELETE FROM messages WHERE id IN ({placeholders})", message_ids
+        )
+        self._conn.commit()
+
     # -- Scheduled Tasks --
 
     def add_scheduled_task(self, name: str, prompt: str, schedule: str) -> int:

cheddahbot/memory.py

@@ -99,21 +99,37 @@ class MemorySystem:
         return self._vector_search(query_vec, top_k)
 
     def auto_flush(self, conv_id: str):
-        """Summarize old messages and move to daily log."""
+        """Summarize old messages and move to daily log, then delete flushed messages."""
         messages = self.db.get_messages(conv_id, limit=200)
         if len(messages) < self.config.memory.flush_threshold:
             return
 
-        # Take older messages for summarization
+        # Take older messages for summarization, keep last 10 in context
-        to_summarize = messages[:-10]  # keep last 10 in context
+        to_summarize = messages[:-10]
-        text_block = "\n".join(
+        if not to_summarize:
-            f"{m['role']}: {m['content'][:200]}" for m in to_summarize
+            return
-            if m.get("content")
-        )
 
-        summary = f"Conversation summary ({len(to_summarize)} messages): {text_block[:1000]}"
+        # Build a concise summary (skip tool results, keep user/assistant text)
+        summary_parts = []
+        for m in to_summarize:
+            role = m.get("role", "")
+            content = (m.get("content") or "").strip()
+            if not content or role == "tool":
+                continue
+            summary_parts.append(f"{role}: {content[:150]}")
+
+        if not summary_parts:
+            return
+
+        summary = f"Conversation summary ({len(to_summarize)} messages):\n" + "\n".join(summary_parts[:20])
         self.log_daily(summary)
-        log.info("Auto-flushed %d messages to daily log", len(to_summarize))
+
+        # Delete the flushed messages from DB so they don't get re-flushed
+        flushed_ids = [m["id"] for m in to_summarize if "id" in m]
+        if flushed_ids:
+            self.db.delete_messages(flushed_ids)
+
+        log.info("Auto-flushed %d messages from conv %s", len(to_summarize), conv_id)
 
     def reindex_all(self):
         """Rebuild the embedding index from all memory files."""

cheddahbot/router.py

@@ -38,7 +38,13 @@ def build_system_prompt(
         "- If you learn something important about the user, save it to memory.\n"
         "- Be concise but thorough. Don't pad responses unnecessarily.\n"
         "- When uncertain, ask for clarification.\n"
-        "- Reference memories naturally when relevant."
+        "- Reference memories naturally when relevant.\n"
+        "- IMPORTANT: Do NOT call the same tool twice with the same arguments. "
+        "If a tool already returned a result, use that result — do not re-call it.\n"
+        "- After using tools, always respond to the user with a final answer. "
+        "Do not end your turn with only tool calls and no text.\n"
+        "- For tasks requiring shell commands, file edits, or system access, "
+        "use the delegate_task tool instead of trying to do it yourself."
     )
 
     return "\n\n---\n\n".join(parts)
@@ -62,6 +68,7 @@ def format_messages_for_llm(
             messages.append({"role": role, "content": content})
         elif role == "tool":
             # Tool results go as a user message with context
-            messages.append({"role": "user", "content": f"[Tool Result]\n{content}"})
+            tool_name = msg.get("tool_result", "unknown")
+            messages.append({"role": "user", "content": f'[Tool "{tool_name}" result]\n{content}'})
 
     return messages

cheddahbot/scheduler.py

@@ -113,6 +113,3 @@ class Scheduler:
             log.debug("Heartbeat: all clear")
         else:
             log.info("Heartbeat action taken: %s", result[:200])
-            # Log to daily log
-            if self.agent._memory:
-                self.agent._memory.log_daily(f"[Heartbeat] {result[:500]}")