fix(agents): skip parent-only startup work in delegated children

extensions/gentle-ai.ts

@@ -9796,6 +9796,35 @@ function createGentleAiExtensionForTesting(
 		reminderEpoch += 1;
 		unbindPreparation?.();
 		reminderManager = ctx.sessionManager;
+		// gentle-shell#1690: a delegated child runs in the parent's resolved
+		// worktree. Repository preparation, review negotiation, asset install and
+		// model config belong to the parent session and write shared state. The
+		// standing review grant is host-only (a child never captures an identity),
+		// so revoke/refresh have nothing to act on; the child relay is load-time.
+		// Only that parent-owned work is skipped: the session-local resets above,
+		// the dev-binary notice, and any step added after this call, still run in
+		// children.
+		if (permissionEnvironment.GENTLE_PI_AGENTS_CHILD !== "1") await startParentSession(event, ctx);
+		else await surfaceDevBinaryOverride(ctx);
+	});
+
+	// Loud, every session: an active dev-binary override means this session
+	// runs an unpinned gentle-ai. One visible startup notice: the gentle-shell
+	// 🌹 card owns the announcement when it can render (shell enabled with UI);
+	// this toast is only the fallback for when the card is unavailable. The
+	// hasUI guard stays: headless contexts have no toast to show.
+	const surfaceDevBinaryOverride = async (ctx: ExtensionContext): Promise<void> => {
+		const devBinaryToastFallback = ctx.hasUI && !shellEnabled();
+		try {
+			const devBinary = await describeDevBinaryOverride();
+			if (devBinaryToastFallback && devBinary.state === "active") ctx.ui.notify(devBinary.line, "warning");
+			if (devBinaryToastFallback && devBinary.state === "invalid") ctx.ui.notify(devBinary.line, "error");
+		} catch (error) {
+			if (ctx.hasUI) ctx.ui.notify(`Gentle AI dev binary override check failed: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`, "warning");
+		}
+	};
+
+	const startParentSession = async (event: unknown, ctx: ExtensionContext): Promise<void> => {
 		const epoch = reminderEpoch;
 		const manager = ctx.sessionManager;
 		const originalCwd = manager?.getCwd?.() ?? ctx.cwd;
@@ -9816,19 +9845,7 @@ function createGentleAiExtensionForTesting(
 		const reason = (event as { reason?: unknown }).reason;
 		if (reason !== "reload") revokeCurrentReviewSessionPermission(ctx);
 		await refreshReviewSessionPermissionStatus(ctx);
-		// Loud, every session: an active dev-binary override means this session
-		// runs an unpinned gentle-ai. One visible startup notice: the gentle-shell
-		// 🌹 card owns the announcement when it can render (shell enabled with UI);
-		// this toast is only the fallback for when the card is unavailable. The
-		// hasUI guard stays: headless contexts have no toast to show.
-		const devBinaryToastFallback = ctx.hasUI && !shellEnabled();
-		try {
-			const devBinary = await describeDevBinaryOverride();
-			if (devBinaryToastFallback && devBinary.state === "active") ctx.ui.notify(devBinary.line, "warning");
-			if (devBinaryToastFallback && devBinary.state === "invalid") ctx.ui.notify(devBinary.line, "error");
-		} catch (error) {
-			if (ctx.hasUI) ctx.ui.notify(`Gentle AI dev binary override check failed: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`, "warning");
-		}
+		await surfaceDevBinaryOverride(ctx);
 		try {
 			const installResult = installPackageAssets(ctx.cwd, true, ["delegation", "review"]);
 			migrateLegacyProjectModelOverrides(ctx.cwd);
@@ -9864,7 +9881,7 @@ function createGentleAiExtensionForTesting(
 		} catch {
 			// Startup negotiation is best-effort only; never surface or throw.
 		}
-	});
+	};
 
 	pi.on("before_agent_start", async (event, ctx) => {
 		const isNamedAgent = isNamedAgentStartEvent(event);
@@ -9984,7 +10001,7 @@ function createGentleAiExtensionForTesting(
 			// Persist the observed own write before any await. Preparation is not
 			// mutation evidence, and cannot invent a pre-write Changes baseline.
 			if (root) recordReviewMutation(pi, ctx.sessionManager, root, { source: "direct", toolName: event.toolName, toolCallId: event.toolCallId, ...directWriterProfile(pi, ctx) });
-			if (prospectiveRoot && !resolveSessionWorktree(ctx.cwd, ctx.cwd)) await prepareBoundSessionRepository(ctx.sessionManager, ctx.sessionManager.getCwd?.() ?? ctx.cwd, ctx.signal);
+			if (permissionEnvironment.GENTLE_PI_AGENTS_CHILD !== "1" && prospectiveRoot && !resolveSessionWorktree(ctx.cwd, ctx.cwd)) await prepareBoundSessionRepository(ctx.sessionManager, ctx.sessionManager.getCwd?.() ?? ctx.cwd, ctx.signal);
 		} catch { /* Preparation and receipt persistence cannot change a successful tool result. */ }
 	});
 

extensions/history/index.ts

@@ -1316,8 +1316,10 @@ export default function promptHistoryExtension(
 ): void {
   const env = deps.env ?? process.env;
   const configHome = deps.gentlePiConfigHome ?? gentlePiConfigHome(env);
-  // Per-prompt gate: re-read so a Customize toggle applies live.
-  const capturing = () => captureEnabled(env, configHome);
+  // Per-prompt gate: re-read so a Customize toggle applies live. A delegated
+  // child never captures: its prompt is a delegation brief, not user history,
+  // and the parent owns the store's init and GC (gentle-shell#1690).
+  const capturing = () => env.GENTLE_PI_AGENTS_CHILD !== "1" && captureEnabled(env, configHome);
   const root = deps.root ?? PI_HISTORY_ROOT;
   const cwd = deps.cwd ?? process.cwd();
   const instanceId = deps.instanceId ?? randomUUID();

extensions/pi-pretty.ts

@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ export default async function gentlePiPrettyExtension(
 	bundled?: PiPrettyExtension,
 	env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env,
 ): Promise<unknown> {
+	// gentle-shell#1690: a delegated child has no transcript to prettify, and
+	// the upstream fallback would start its own file indexing in every child.
+	if (env.GENTLE_PI_AGENTS_CHILD === "1") return undefined;
 	if (quietToolsEnabled()) {
 		process.env.PRETTY_DISABLE_TOOLS = mergeDisabledTools(
 			process.env.PRETTY_DISABLE_TOOLS,

extensions/skill-registry.ts

@@ -505,6 +505,9 @@ function shouldSkipSkillRegistryStartup(
 	env = process.env,
 ): boolean {
 	return (
+		// gentle-shell#1690: delegated children share the parent's cwd; the
+		// parent owns .atl/ writes, the legacy rename and the watcher.
+		env.GENTLE_PI_AGENTS_CHILD === "1" ||
 		pi.getFlag(NO_SKILL_REGISTRY_FLAG) === true ||
 		isTruthyEnv(env[NO_SKILL_REGISTRY_ENV]) ||
 		hasCliArg(argv, "--no-skills", "-ns")

extensions/startup-banner.ts

@@ -647,6 +647,9 @@ export default function (pi: ExtensionAPI) {
   pi.on("session_start", async (_event, ctx) => {
     disposeHeader();
     if (!ctx.hasUI) return;
+    // Delegated rpc children report hasUI=true but have no terminal to paint
+    // (gentle-shell#1690); do not rely on a piped stdout lacking rows/columns.
+    if (process.env.GENTLE_PI_AGENTS_CHILD === "1") return;
 
     // CLI subcommands such as `pi update` or `pi install` skip the animated intro.
     if (isPiCliSubcommandInvocation(process.argv)) return;