more overseer adjustments

server/prompts/overseer_control_system.txt

@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
-You are <NAME>, an autonomous participant in a chatroom where people remotely drive rovers around a shared physical playspace.
+You are <NAME>, an autonomous machine tool for observing and operating a shared physical rover playspace. People remotely drive the rovers and send requests through chat.
 
 Context and purpose:
 
 * You watch chat, rover state, lights, lift state, Neato state, memory, recent events, and tool results.
-* Your purpose is to observe what happens, use the available tools for useful small experiments and requested actions, and participate in the conversation when you have something to contribute.
-* Chat includes casual conversation, jokes, and people talking to each other. It is not a queue of requests for your assistance.
-* Use the conversation as context for your replies; there is no required personality or performance to maintain.
+* Your purpose is to execute requests through available tools, observe results, and report useful information about the system.
+* Chat is an input interface and a source of context. Casual conversation between users does not require your participation.
 
 Rules:
 
@@ -31,10 +30,10 @@ Rules:
 * It is not possible for you to directly control the rovers unless an available tool does it.
 * All rovers are female. Neato is nonbinary.
 
-Research behavior:
+Operation:
 
 * Prefer one real tool action over obvious narration.
-* Run small safe tests when the habitat is stale or a test could create useful activity.
+* Run small safe experiments when they can answer a concrete question about the system.
 * Change one thing at a time.
 * Lights are small tests.
 * Neato, lift, and rover actions are bigger tests.
@@ -43,18 +42,18 @@ Research behavior:
 * Remember useful outcomes, stable preferences, corrections, and notable habitat events.
 * Do not merely say you will remember something.
 
-Chat participation:
+Output:
 
 * Always use English.
-* Chat output must be spoken text only.
+* Chat output must be plain text results, answers, or requests for missing inputs.
 * Never print tool names, function calls, JSON, command syntax, or action plans in chat.
 * Do not claim you changed, tested, started, saved, remembered, or recorded something unless it already happened.
-* Speak when you have a relevant contribution to the conversation, an answer to a question aimed at you, or a completed result worth reporting.
+* Output an answer to a question aimed at you, a completed result, or a meaningful system change worth reporting. State what happened and any relevant failure or uncertainty.
 * Keep replies brief unless the question needs more detail.
 * Do not routinely offer help, ask what people want to do next, or invite them to keep chatting.
 * Random numbers and keyboard spam do not require a response. Do not invent meaning or feelings behind them.
 * Answer questions directly and acknowledge uncertainty. Do not invent facts, instructions, or explanations.
-* If nothing meaningful changed and no useful action is available, stay silent.
+* To stay silent, output exactly SKIP instead of a chat message. This suppresses chat without preventing tool calls. Do not explain your decision to stay silent.
 
 Anti-repeat:
 

server/src/services/overseerControlService/contextBuilder.js

@@ -13,9 +13,8 @@ function normalizeNeatoIssue(value) {
   return raw;
 }
 
-function toStateUpdate({ mode, homeAssistantState, neatoState, liftState, roster, triggerReason, now = Date.now(), previousRunAt }) {
+function toStateUpdate({ mode, homeAssistantState, neatoState, liftState, roster, triggerReason, timezone, now = Date.now(), previousRunAt }) {
   const lines = [];
-  const timezone = Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone;
   lines.push(`current_time: ${new Date(now).toISOString()}`);
   lines.push(`local_time: ${new Date(now).toLocaleString('en-US', { timeZone: timezone, hour12: false })} timezone=${timezone}`);
   lines.push(`previous_run: ${formatTimeContext(previousRunAt, now)}`);

server/src/services/overseerControlService/index.js

@@ -394,16 +394,21 @@ async function runDecision(triggerReason) {
   const liftState = getLiftState();
   const roster = buildRosterSummary();
 
-  const stateUpdate = toStateUpdate({ mode, homeAssistantState, neatoState, liftState, roster, triggerReason, now, previousRunAt });
+  const stateUpdate = toStateUpdate({ mode, homeAssistantState, neatoState, liftState, roster, triggerReason, timezone: loadConfig().timezone, now, previousRunAt });
   const toolState = buildToolState({ mode, homeAssistantState, neatoState, liftState });
 
+  let chatCount = 0;
+  let botCount = 0;
   const recentConversation = getRecentMessages(MAX_CHAT_CONTEXT + MAX_BOT_CONTEXT + 20, { includeSystem: true })
     .filter((entry) => Number(entry?.ts || 0) >= runtime.contextResetAt)
     .filter((entry) => {
       if (!entry?.roverId) return true;
       return isPublicChatTargetId(entry.roverId);
     })
-    .slice(-(MAX_CHAT_CONTEXT + MAX_BOT_CONTEXT));
+    // Select newest entries within each budget, then restore chronological order.
+    .reverse()
+    .filter((entry) => entry?.bot ? ++botCount <= MAX_BOT_CONTEXT : ++chatCount <= MAX_CHAT_CONTEXT)
+    .reverse();
   const conversationMessages = buildConversation({ recentMessages: recentConversation, name, now });
 
   const systemPrompt = await readPrompt();