fix(hooks): preserve short sessions and quote evolved metadata

scripts/hooks/session-end.js

@@ -94,10 +94,6 @@ function extractSessionSummary(transcriptPath) {
   };
 }
 
-function isLowSubstanceTranscript(summary) {
-  return summary.totalMessages === 1 && summary.toolsUsed.length === 0 && summary.filesModified.length === 0;
-}
-
 // Read hook input from stdin (Claude Code provides transcript_path via stdin JSON)
 const MAX_STDIN = 1024 * 1024;
 let stdinData = '';
@@ -185,7 +181,16 @@ async function main() {
     }
   }
 
-  // Classify known transcripts before resolving session metadata or touching the
+  // ECC's LLM summary helper launches a one-shot Claude subprocess whose Stop
+  // hooks inherit this dedicated marker. Skip that known internal session
+  // before touching session state. Transcript cardinality is not a safe proxy:
+  // an ordinary user session may legitimately contain one prompt and no tools.
+  if (process.env.ECC_LLM_SUMMARY_SUBPROCESS === '1') {
+    log('[SessionEnd] Skipped ECC LLM summary subprocess');
+    return;
+  }
+
+  // Read known transcripts before resolving session metadata or touching the
   // session directory. Missing, unreadable, or unparseable transcript data keeps
   // the established fallback behavior because it cannot be classified reliably.
   let summary = null;
@@ -194,10 +199,6 @@ async function main() {
     transcriptExists = fs.existsSync(transcriptPath);
     if (transcriptExists) {
       summary = extractSessionSummary(transcriptPath);
-      if (summary && isLowSubstanceTranscript(summary)) {
-        log('[SessionEnd] Skipped one-message session without tool or file activity');
-        return;
-      }
     } else {
       log(`[SessionEnd] Transcript not found: ${transcriptPath}`);
     }

scripts/lib/llm-summary.js

@@ -156,7 +156,8 @@ function generateSessionSummary(transcriptPath) {
       env: {
         ...process.env,
         CLAUDECODE: '',
-        ECC_SKIP_LLM_SUMMARY: '1'
+        ECC_SKIP_LLM_SUMMARY: '1',
+        ECC_LLM_SUMMARY_SUBPROCESS: '1'
       },
       timeout: LLM_TIMEOUT_MS,
       shell: process.platform === 'win32'

skills/continuous-learning-v2/scripts/instinct-cli.py

@@ -1986,7 +1986,7 @@ def _generate_evolved(skill_candidates: list, workflow_instincts: list, agent_ca
 
         content = "---\n"
         content += f"name: {name}\n"
-        content += f"description: {_evolved_description(trigger, cand['instincts'], 'skill')}\n"
+        content += f"description: {_yaml_quote(_evolved_description(trigger, cand['instincts'], 'skill'))}\n"
         content += "---\n\n"
         content += f"# {name}\n\n"
         content += f"Evolved from {len(cand['instincts'])} instincts "
@@ -2016,7 +2016,7 @@ def _generate_evolved(skill_candidates: list, workflow_instincts: list, agent_ca
 
         cmd_file = evolved_dir / "commands" / f"{cmd_name}.md"
         content = "---\n"
-        content += f"description: {_evolved_description(inst.get('trigger', ''), [inst], 'command')}\n"
+        content += f"description: {_yaml_quote(_evolved_description(inst.get('trigger', ''), [inst], 'command'))}\n"
         content += "---\n\n"
         content += f"# {cmd_name}\n\n"
         content += f"Evolved from instinct: {inst.get('id', 'unnamed')}\n"
@@ -2043,7 +2043,7 @@ def _generate_evolved(skill_candidates: list, workflow_instincts: list, agent_ca
 
         content = "---\n"
         content += f"name: {agent_name}\n"
-        content += f"description: {_evolved_description(str(cand.get('trigger', '')), cand['instincts'], 'agent')}\n"
+        content += f"description: {_yaml_quote(_evolved_description(str(cand.get('trigger', '')), cand['instincts'], 'agent'))}\n"
         content += "model: sonnet\ntools: Read, Grep, Glob\n---\n"
         content += f"# {agent_name}\n\n"
         content += f"Evolved from {len(cand['instincts'])} instincts "

tests/hooks/session-end.test.js

@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ function runTests() {
     }
   }) ? passed++ : failed++);
 
-  (test('skips a one-message prompt with no tool activity', () => {
+  (test('writes a session for a normal one-message prompt without tool activity', () => {
     const home = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'ecc-session-end-'));
     try {
       const uuid = '12345678-1234-4234-8234-123456789abc';
@@ -169,8 +169,7 @@ function runTests() {
 
       const res = runHook(home, transcript);
       assert.strictEqual(res.status || 0, 0, `hook exited ${res.status}: ${res.stderr}`);
-      assert.ok(!fs.existsSync(sessionFileFor(home, uuid)), 'One-shot prompt should not create a session file');
-      assert.ok(!fs.existsSync(path.join(home, '.claude', 'session-data')), 'Rejected transcript should not create the sessions directory');
+      assert.ok(fs.existsSync(sessionFileFor(home, uuid)), 'A normal short user session should remain resumable');
     } finally {
       fs.rmSync(home, { recursive: true, force: true });
     }
@@ -189,7 +188,7 @@ function runTests() {
         ].join('\n') + '\n'
       );
 
-      const res = runHook(home, transcript);
+      const res = runHook(home, transcript, { ECC_LLM_SUMMARY_SUBPROCESS: '1' });
       assert.strictEqual(res.status || 0, 0, `hook exited ${res.status}: ${res.stderr}`);
       assert.ok(!fs.existsSync(sessionFileFor(home, uuid)), 'Summarizer subprocess should not create a session file');
     } finally {
@@ -209,12 +208,12 @@ function runTests() {
       fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(sessionFile), { recursive: true });
       fs.writeFileSync(sessionFile, original);
       fs.utimesSync(sessionFile, originalTime, originalTime);
-      fs.writeFileSync(transcript, JSON.stringify({ type: 'user', content: 'Answer this one question' }) + '\n');
+      fs.writeFileSync(transcript, JSON.stringify({ type: 'user', content: 'Internal summary request' }) + '\n');
 
-      const res = runHook(home, transcript);
+      const res = runHook(home, transcript, { ECC_LLM_SUMMARY_SUBPROCESS: '1' });
       assert.strictEqual(res.status || 0, 0, `hook exited ${res.status}: ${res.stderr}`);
-      assert.strictEqual(fs.readFileSync(sessionFile, 'utf8'), original, 'Rejected transcript should not change existing content');
-      assert.strictEqual(fs.statSync(sessionFile).mtimeMs, originalTime.getTime(), 'Rejected transcript should not advance mtime');
+      assert.strictEqual(fs.readFileSync(sessionFile, 'utf8'), original, 'Internal summarizer should not change existing content');
+      assert.strictEqual(fs.statSync(sessionFile).mtimeMs, originalTime.getTime(), 'Internal summarizer should not advance mtime');
     } finally {
       fs.rmSync(home, { recursive: true, force: true });
     }

tests/lib/llm-summary.test.js

@@ -192,6 +192,14 @@ test('returns null for missing transcript (no conversation to summarize)', () =>
   if (orig !== undefined) process.env.ECC_SKIP_LLM_SUMMARY = orig;
 });
 
+test('marks the spawned summarizer so its Stop hook cannot create resume state', () => {
+  const source = fs.readFileSync(
+    path.join(__dirname, '..', '..', 'scripts', 'lib', 'llm-summary.js'),
+    'utf8'
+  );
+  assert.match(source, /ECC_LLM_SUMMARY_SUBPROCESS:\s*'1'/);
+});
+
 // --- Results ---
 console.log('\n=== Test Results ===');
 console.log(`Passed: ${passed}`);

tests/scripts/instinct-cli-evolve-generate.test.js

@@ -308,6 +308,30 @@ test('generated agents carry name + description alongside model/tools', () => {
   }
 });
 
+test('generated descriptions quote YAML comment markers', () => {
+  const root = createTempDir();
+  try {
+    writeInstinct(root, 'hash-marker', 'when reviewing output # preserve this text');
+    writeInstinct(root, 'run-tests', 'when running tests');
+    writeInstinct(root, 'build-images', 'when building images');
+
+    const result = runCli(root, ['evolve', '--generate']);
+    assert.strictEqual(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
+
+    const commandsDir = path.join(root, 'evolved', 'commands');
+    const descriptions = generatedCommands(root).map(file =>
+      fs.readFileSync(path.join(commandsDir, file), 'utf8')
+        .split('\n')
+        .find(line => line.startsWith('description: '))
+    );
+    const description = descriptions.find(line => line.includes('# preserve this text'));
+    assert.ok(description, `missing hash-bearing description in ${descriptions.join(', ')}`);
+    assert.match(description, /^description: ".* # preserve this text.*"$/);
+  } finally {
+    cleanupDir(root);
+  }
+});
+
 console.log(`\nPassed: ${passed}`);
 console.log(`Failed: ${failed}`);