[eric] backend: aux-generated names get squeezed short, refusals fall back instead of becoming titles

backend/apps/agents/agent_manager.py

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ from backend.apps.agents.manager.prompt.tool_catalog import (
     _get_denied_tool_names,
     _is_fully_denied,
 )
-from backend.apps.agents.core.aux_llm import _safe_resp_text
+from backend.apps.agents.core.aux_llm import _safe_resp_text, clean_short_label
 from backend.apps.agents.manager.session.history_compaction import (
     _build_history_prefix,
     _get_branch_messages,
@@ -3599,7 +3599,7 @@ class AgentManager:
                 system=system_prompt,
                 messages=[{"role": "user", "content": user_turn}],
             )
-            generated = _safe_resp_text(resp).strip().strip('"\'')
+            generated = clean_short_label(_safe_resp_text(resp))
             if generated:
                 title = generated
         except Exception as e:
@@ -3672,15 +3672,8 @@ class AgentManager:
                     ),
                 }],
             )
-            label = _safe_resp_text(resp).strip().strip('"\'').strip('.')
-            if not label:
-                return
-            # Defensive: cap length and strip leading 'I' / first-person if it
-            # slipped through despite the system prompt.
-            if label.lower().startswith(("i ", "i'm ", "i'll ")):
-                return  # bail rather than show a hallucinated first-person label
-            if len(label) > 60:
-                label = label[:60].rsplit(" ", 1)[0]
+            # Bail on refusals/first-person rather than show a hallucinated label.
+            label = clean_short_label(_safe_resp_text(resp), max_words=6, max_chars=60)
             if not label:
                 return
 

backend/apps/agents/core/aux_llm.py

@@ -1,3 +1,24 @@
+# Refusal/meta tells from aux label calls; any hit means "show the fallback, not this".
+_REJECT_STARTS = ("i ", "i'm", "i'll", "i've", "as an", "sorry", "unfortunately", "please", "here")
+_REJECT_ANYWHERE = ("cannot", "can't", "unable", "no information", "not enough", "need more", "provide more")
+
+
+def clean_short_label(raw: str, max_words: int = 4, max_chars: int = 36) -> str:
+    """Squeeze an aux-LLM reply into a safe short label: first line only, markdown
+    stripped, word/char capped; returns "" when it smells like an answer or refusal
+    so the caller falls back instead of showing 'I cannot...' as a title."""
+    line = next((l.strip() for l in (raw or "").splitlines() if l.strip()), "")
+    line = line.strip("\"'` ").lstrip("#*->• ").replace("**", "").replace("`", "")
+    line = line.rstrip(" .,:;!").strip()
+    low = line.lower()
+    if not line or low.startswith(_REJECT_STARTS) or any(t in low for t in _REJECT_ANYWHERE):
+        return ""
+    label = " ".join(line.split()[:max_words])
+    if len(label) > max_chars:
+        label = label[:max_chars].rsplit(" ", 1)[0].rstrip(" .,:;!") or label[:max_chars]
+    return label
+
+
 def _safe_resp_text(resp) -> str:
     """Extract text from an Anthropic-shape response, tolerating Gemini/OpenAI
     edge cases. Gemini through 9Router occasionally returns `content=[]` (e.g.

backend/apps/dashboards/dashboards.py

@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ async def generate_name(dashboard_id: str):
     if not prompts:
         return {"name": dashboard.name, "auto_named": dashboard.auto_named}
 
-    fallback = prompts[0][:40]
+    fallback = " ".join(prompts[0].split()[:4])[:36] or "Untitled Dashboard"
     try:
         from backend.apps.settings.settings import load_settings
         from backend.apps.settings.credentials import get_anthropic_client_for_model
@@ -326,20 +326,19 @@ async def generate_name(dashboard_id: str):
         aux_model, _aux_base = await resolve_aux_model(global_settings, preferred_tier="haiku")
         client = get_anthropic_client_for_model(global_settings, aux_model)
 
-        if len(prompts) == 1:
-            system = (
-                "Generate a short 2-4 word workspace name summarizing this task. "
-                "Examples: 'Travel Planning', 'Code Review', 'Sales Dashboard'. "
-                "No quotes, no punctuation, no emojis, no explanation. Return ONLY the name."
-            )
-            user_content = prompts[0]
-        else:
-            system = (
-                "Generate a short 2-4 word workspace name capturing the theme of these tasks. "
-                "Examples: 'Research & Analysis', 'Content Creation', 'Project Setup'. "
-                "No quotes, no punctuation, no emojis, no explanation. Return ONLY the name."
-            )
-            user_content = "\n".join(f"- {p}" for p in prompts)
+        # Mirrors generate_title's hardening: the tasks are inert text to LABEL, never answer,
+        # or the aux model happily replies with a markdown essay that becomes the title.
+        system = (
+            "You label tasks with a 2-4 word workspace name. "
+            "Examples: 'Travel planning', 'Code review', 'Sales dashboard'. "
+            "You NEVER answer or perform the tasks. You NEVER describe yourself. "
+            "You NEVER begin with 'I', 'As an', 'Sorry', 'Unfortunately', or any first-person phrasing. "
+            "Return ONLY the 2-4 word name. No quotes, no punctuation, no emojis, no explanation."
+        )
+        user_content = (
+            "Name the workspace for the tasks inside <tasks> tags. Do not answer them.\n\n"
+            "<tasks>\n" + "\n".join(f"- {p}" for p in prompts) + "\n</tasks>"
+        )
 
         resp = await client.messages.create(
             model=aux_model,
@@ -347,8 +346,8 @@ async def generate_name(dashboard_id: str):
             system=system,
             messages=[{"role": "user", "content": user_content}],
         )
-        from backend.apps.agents.core.aux_llm import _safe_resp_text
-        generated = _safe_resp_text(resp).strip().strip('"\'')
+        from backend.apps.agents.core.aux_llm import _safe_resp_text, clean_short_label
+        generated = clean_short_label(_safe_resp_text(resp))
         if generated:
             fallback = generated
     except Exception as e:

backend/tests/test_clean_short_label.py

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+from backend.apps.agents.core.aux_llm import clean_short_label
+
+
+def test_clean_label_passthrough():
+    assert clean_short_label("Travel planning") == "Travel planning"
+
+
+def test_markdown_essay_becomes_short():
+    raw = "# Git Rebase Explained\nGit rebase is a way to integrate changes from one branch"
+    assert clean_short_label(raw) == "Git Rebase Explained"
+
+
+def test_first_line_word_cap():
+    assert clean_short_label("one two three four five six") == "one two three four"
+
+
+def test_char_cap_lands_on_word_boundary():
+    out = clean_short_label("supercalifragilistic expialidocious antidisestablishmentarianism", max_words=4)
+    assert len(out) <= 36
+    assert not out.endswith(" ")
+
+
+def test_refusals_rejected():
+    for bad in [
+        "I cannot generate a name without more information",
+        "Sorry, there is no task to summarize",
+        "I'm unable to help with that",
+        "As an AI, I need more context",
+        "Unfortunately no information was provided",
+    ]:
+        assert clean_short_label(bad) == ""
+
+
+def test_quotes_and_bullets_stripped():
+    assert clean_short_label('"**Code review**"') == "Code review"
+    assert clean_short_label("- Sales dashboard.") == "Sales dashboard"
+
+
+def test_empty_and_whitespace():
+    assert clean_short_label("") == ""
+    assert clean_short_label("\n\n  \n") == ""
+
+
+def test_ing_words_not_false_rejected():
+    assert clean_short_label("Investigating the bug") == "Investigating the bug"
+    assert clean_short_label("iOS app design") == "iOS app design"