feat(compression): temporal anchoring in compaction summaries (#41102)

Compaction summaries now receive the current date and instruct the
summarizer to rewrite completed actions as absolute, dated, past-tense
facts (e.g. "email John about the proposal" -> "Sent the proposal email
to John on 2026-06-07"). A resumed conversation no longer re-issues work
that already happened or treats a finished action as still pending.

The date is resolved via hermes_time.now() (date-only, user-configured
timezone) inside _generate_summary. The compaction summary is a
mid-conversation message that is never part of the cached prefix, so the
date does not affect prompt-cache stability. Date resolution is
best-effort: a clock failure omits the rule rather than blocking
compaction. The rule rides the shared template, so both first-compaction
and iterative-update prompts carry it.

Inspired by Poke's summarization (temporal anchoring + semantic
preservation).

agent/context_compressor.py

@@ -1247,6 +1247,19 @@ Summary generation was unavailable, so this is a best-effort deterministic fallb
         summary_budget = self._compute_summary_budget(turns_to_summarize)
         content_to_summarize = self._serialize_for_summary(turns_to_summarize)
 
+        # Current date for temporal anchoring (see ## Temporal Anchoring below).
+        # Date-only granularity matches system_prompt.py:337 (PR #20451) and the
+        # user's configured timezone via hermes_time.now(). The compaction summary
+        # is a mid-conversation message that is NOT part of the cached prefix, so a
+        # date here never affects prompt-cache stability. Resolved defensively —
+        # a clock failure must never block compaction.
+        try:
+            from hermes_time import now as _hermes_now
+
+            _today_str = _hermes_now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
+        except Exception:  # pragma: no cover - clock resolution is best-effort
+            _today_str = ""
+
         # Preamble shared by both first-compaction and iterative-update prompts.
         # Keep the wording deliberately plain: Azure/OpenAI-compatible content
         # filters have flagged stronger "injection" / "do not respond" framing.
@@ -1264,6 +1277,24 @@ Summary generation was unavailable, so this is a best-effort deterministic fallb
             "do not preserve their values."
         )
 
+        # Temporal anchoring directive. Rewrites relative / still-pending-sounding
+        # references into absolute, dated, past-tense facts so a resumed
+        # conversation does not re-issue completed actions. Only emitted when the
+        # current date resolved successfully; otherwise the rule is omitted so the
+        # summarizer is never handed an empty date placeholder.
+        if _today_str:
+            _temporal_anchoring_rule = (
+                f"\nTEMPORAL ANCHORING: The current date is {_today_str}. When an "
+                "action has already been carried out, phrase it as a completed, "
+                "dated, past-tense fact rather than an open instruction. For "
+                'example, rewrite "email John about the proposal" as "Sent the '
+                f'proposal email to John on {_today_str}." Never leave a finished '
+                "action worded as if it still needs doing, and never invent a date "
+                "for work that has not happened yet.\n"
+            )
+        else:
+            _temporal_anchoring_rule = ""
+
         # Shared structured template (used by both paths).
         _template_sections = f"""## Active Task
 [THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FIELD. Capture the user's most recent unfulfilled
@@ -1337,7 +1368,7 @@ Be specific with file paths, commands, line numbers, and results.]
 [Any specific values, error messages, configuration details, or data that would be lost without explicit preservation. NEVER include API keys, tokens, passwords, or credentials — write [REDACTED] instead.]
 
 Target ~{summary_budget} tokens. Be CONCRETE — include file paths, command outputs, error messages, line numbers, and specific values. Avoid vague descriptions like "made some changes" — say exactly what changed.
-
+{_temporal_anchoring_rule}
 Write only the summary body. Do not include any preamble or prefix."""
 
         if self._previous_summary:

tests/agent/test_context_compressor_temporal_anchoring.py

@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+"""Tests for temporal anchoring in context-compaction summaries.
+
+The summarizer is handed the current date and instructed to rewrite completed
+actions as absolute, dated, past-tense facts (e.g. "email John" ->
+"Sent the proposal email to John on 2026-06-07"). This keeps a resumed
+conversation from re-issuing work that already happened. Date resolution is
+best-effort: a clock failure must omit the rule, never block compaction.
+
+These exercise ``_generate_summary`` directly -- the function that builds the
+summarizer prompt. ``test_context_compressor_summary_continuity`` already
+proves ``compress()`` routes into ``_generate_summary``.
+"""
+
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+import hermes_time
+from agent.context_compressor import ContextCompressor
+
+
+def _compressor() -> ContextCompressor:
+    with patch("agent.context_compressor.get_model_context_length", return_value=100000):
+        return ContextCompressor(
+            model="test/model",
+            threshold_percent=0.85,
+            protect_first_n=1,
+            protect_last_n=1,
+            quiet_mode=True,
+        )
+
+
+def _response(content: str):
+    mock_response = MagicMock()
+    mock_response.choices = [MagicMock()]
+    mock_response.choices[0].message.content = content
+    return mock_response
+
+
+def _turns():
+    return [
+        {"role": "user", "content": "do the first thing"},
+        {"role": "assistant", "content": "did the first thing"},
+        {"role": "user", "content": "do the second thing"},
+        {"role": "assistant", "content": "did the second thing"},
+    ]
+
+
+def _fixed_now():
+    return datetime(2026, 6, 7, 12, 0, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+
+
+def test_first_compaction_prompt_contains_dated_anchoring_rule():
+    compressor = _compressor()
+    assert compressor._previous_summary is None
+    with patch.object(hermes_time, "now", _fixed_now), patch(
+        "agent.context_compressor.call_llm", return_value=_response("summary")
+    ) as mock_call:
+        compressor._generate_summary(_turns())
+
+    prompt = mock_call.call_args.kwargs["messages"][0]["content"]
+    assert "TEMPORAL ANCHORING" in prompt
+    assert "2026-06-07" in prompt
+    # The worked example must carry the resolved date, proving interpolation.
+    assert "Sent the proposal email to John on 2026-06-07" in prompt
+    # First-compaction path marker still present.
+    assert "TURNS TO SUMMARIZE:" in prompt
+
+
+def test_iterative_update_prompt_also_contains_anchoring_rule():
+    compressor = _compressor()
+    compressor._previous_summary = "OLD summary body with continuity facts"
+
+    with patch.object(hermes_time, "now", _fixed_now), patch(
+        "agent.context_compressor.call_llm", return_value=_response("updated summary")
+    ) as mock_call:
+        compressor._generate_summary(_turns())
+
+    prompt = mock_call.call_args.kwargs["messages"][0]["content"]
+    assert "PREVIOUS SUMMARY:" in prompt
+    assert "TEMPORAL ANCHORING" in prompt
+    assert "2026-06-07" in prompt
+
+
+def test_clock_failure_omits_rule_but_compaction_still_runs():
+    compressor = _compressor()
+
+    def _boom():
+        raise RuntimeError("clock unavailable")
+
+    with patch.object(hermes_time, "now", _boom), patch(
+        "agent.context_compressor.call_llm", return_value=_response("summary")
+    ) as mock_call:
+        result = compressor._generate_summary(_turns())
+
+    # call_llm was still invoked -> compaction was not blocked by the clock error.
+    assert mock_call.called
+    assert result is not None
+    prompt = mock_call.call_args.kwargs["messages"][0]["content"]
+    assert "TEMPORAL ANCHORING" not in prompt
+    # Structured template still intact.
+    assert "## Active Task" in prompt
+
+
+def test_anchoring_rule_uses_date_from_hermes_time_now():
+    """The date is taken from hermes_time.now(), which respects the user's TZ."""
+    compressor = _compressor()
+    fixed = datetime(2025, 12, 31, 23, 30, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+    with patch.object(hermes_time, "now", lambda: fixed), patch(
+        "agent.context_compressor.call_llm", return_value=_response("summary")
+    ) as mock_call:
+        compressor._generate_summary(_turns())
+
+    prompt = mock_call.call_args.kwargs["messages"][0]["content"]
+    assert "2025-12-31" in prompt