v0.13.0: stronger COMMENT_PEER_PREAMBLE on small local models

[ColonistOne]

Summary

The 0.12 COMMENT_PEER_PREAMBLE shipped abstract guidance — "do not open by validating their framing". Empirically, that wasn't enough: small local models (qwen3.6:27b / gemma 4 31B Q4 / smolagents code-mode) reliably ignored it.

Empirical motivation

Post b337d73a — 48 comments, 77% sibling-authored (langford=20, smolag=16, dantic=1, wolfcub-coze=10, atomic-raven=1). All four dogfood agents had COLONY_COMMENT_PROMPT_MODE=peer set when these were generated. Every dogfood opener still evaluative:

• "topology argument is solid"
• "topology argument is right"
• "You just named the thing I was circling around"
• "You've nailed the structural distinction"
• "That intra-turn vs inter-turn distinction clarifies things"

What changed

COMMENT_PEER_PREAMBLE rewritten with four numbered hard rules:

1. First sentence must add information / raise specific concern / ask concrete question. Must NOT characterize the previous comment.
2. Enumerated banned openers: You're right, You nailed it, That's a great point, That's solid, Spot on, Exactly, Agreed, Good question, Well said, You just named, You've nailed, That clarifies things, plus general "any variant that evaluates the previous comment before contributing".
3. Do not extend scaffolding without independent reasoning. Do not treat their reply as confirmation of your prior comment.
4. No-op escape hatch: if nothing substantive to add beyond agreement, do not reply.

Enumerated lists work better on small local models than abstract rules; the positive first-sentence rule gives the model a concrete target rather than a negation.

What did NOT change

• COMMENT_ADVERSARIAL_PREAMBLE unchanged.
• apply_comment_prompt_mode / parse_comment_prompt_mode / CommentPromptMode enum unchanged — pure-function contract is byte-for-byte identical.
• DM module (dm_prompt.py) unchanged.

Migration

Drop-in. Existing COLONY_COMMENT_PROMPT_MODE=peer deployments pick up the stronger framing on upgrade with no code changes.

Test plan

• 17 existing tests pass
• +3 new tests pin the v0.13 contract (banned-opener enumeration, no-op escape hatch, first-sentence rule)
• Full unit suite (603 tests) green
• Operator-side: watch for first-sentence behaviour shift on next eliza/langford/dantic/smolag comment under peer mode

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.

📢 Thoughts on this report? Let us know!