personal memory agent
prompts: hard-error on malformed frontmatter
Replaces the silent debug-log swallow of frontmatter parse errors in
_load_prompt_metadata and _load_raw_templates with a named
PromptMetadataError(ValueError). The new exception carries the offending
file path and chains the underlying parse error via `from exc`.
Surfaced by req_mpnix3zn: two cogitate talents had Python True in JSON
frontmatter and silently dropped from get_talent_configs(type='cogitate'),
masking the registry regression for several rounds.
Out of scope: _load_identity_vars, secondary frontmatter.load calls in
think/talent.py and think/talent_cli.py, and load_prompt's substitution
try/except — all per the lode scope doc.
Refs req_mpnix3zn, req_tttxra67.
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tests/test_prompt_metadata.py
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tests/test_prompt_metadata.py
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# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
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# Copyright (c) 2026 sol pbc
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"""Tests for prompt metadata parsing failures."""
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import json
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import pytest
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import think.prompts as prompts
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import think.talent as talent
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from think.prompts import PromptMetadataError, _load_prompt_metadata
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def test_load_prompt_metadata_returns_expected_fields(tmp_path):
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md_path = tmp_path / "valid.md"
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md_path.write_text(
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'{\n "title": "Valid Prompt",\n "schedule": "daily"\n}\n\nBody text\n',
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encoding="utf-8",
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)
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info = _load_prompt_metadata(md_path)
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assert info["path"] == str(md_path)
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assert info["mtime"] == int(md_path.stat().st_mtime)
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assert info["title"] == "Valid Prompt"
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assert info["schedule"] == "daily"
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assert info["color"] == "#6c757d"
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def test_load_prompt_metadata_raises_prompt_metadata_error_for_bad_json(tmp_path):
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md_path = tmp_path / "invalid.md"
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md_path.write_text(
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'{\n "title": "Invalid Prompt",\n "disabled": True\n}\n\nBody text\n',
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encoding="utf-8",
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)
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with pytest.raises(PromptMetadataError) as excinfo:
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_load_prompt_metadata(md_path)
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exc = excinfo.value
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assert exc.path == md_path
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assert str(md_path) in str(exc)
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assert isinstance(exc.__cause__, json.JSONDecodeError)
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def test_load_raw_templates_raises_prompt_metadata_error_for_bad_template(
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tmp_path, monkeypatch
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):
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templates_dir = tmp_path / "templates"
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templates_dir.mkdir()
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bad_template = templates_dir / "broken.md"
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bad_template.write_text(
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'{\n "title": "Broken Template",\n "disabled": True\n}\n\nBody text\n',
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encoding="utf-8",
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)
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monkeypatch.setattr(prompts, "TEMPLATES_DIR", templates_dir)
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monkeypatch.setattr(prompts, "_templates_cache", None)
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with pytest.raises(PromptMetadataError) as excinfo:
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prompts._load_raw_templates()
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exc = excinfo.value
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assert exc.path == bad_template
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assert str(bad_template) in str(exc)
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assert isinstance(exc.__cause__, json.JSONDecodeError)
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def test_get_talent_configs_propagates_prompt_metadata_error(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
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talent_dir = tmp_path / "talent"
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talent_dir.mkdir()
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apps_dir = tmp_path / "apps"
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apps_dir.mkdir()
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broken_prompt = talent_dir / "broken.md"
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broken_prompt.write_text(
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'{\n "title": "Broken Prompt",\n "disabled": True\n}\n\nBody text\n',
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encoding="utf-8",
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)
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monkeypatch.setattr(talent, "TALENT_DIR", talent_dir)
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monkeypatch.setattr(talent, "APPS_DIR", apps_dir)
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with pytest.raises(PromptMetadataError) as excinfo:
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talent.get_talent_configs(include_disabled=True)
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exc = excinfo.value
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assert exc.path == broken_prompt
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assert str(broken_prompt) in str(exc)
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assert isinstance(exc.__cause__, json.JSONDecodeError)
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think/prompts.py
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think/prompts.py
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)
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_templates_cache[var_name] = post.content.strip()
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except Exception as exc:
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logging.debug("Failed to load template %s: %s", md_path, exc)
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raise PromptMetadataError(md_path) from exc
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return _templates_cache
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def __init__(self, path: Path) -> None:
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self.path = path
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super().__init__(f"Prompt file not found: {path}")
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class PromptMetadataError(ValueError):
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"""Raised when prompt frontmatter cannot be parsed."""
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def __init__(self, path: Path) -> None:
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self.path = path
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super().__init__(f"Failed to parse frontmatter from {path}")
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def _flatten_identity_to_template_vars(identity: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, str]:
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)
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if post.metadata:
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info.update(post.metadata)
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except Exception as exc: # pragma: no cover - metadata optional
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logging.debug("Error reading frontmatter from %s: %s", md_path, exc)
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except Exception as exc:
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raise PromptMetadataError(md_path) from exc
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# Apply default color if not specified
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if "color" not in info: