Shared persistent state across all subconscious agents

Moved persistent_state from per-agent to a single shared BTreeMap on
Subconscious. All agents read/write the same state — surface's walked
keys are visible to observe and reflect, etc.

- Subconscious.state: shared BTreeMap<String, String>
- walked() derives from state["walked"] instead of separate Vec
- subconscious-state.json is now a flat key-value map
- All agent outputs merge into the shared state on completion
- Loaded on startup, saved after any agent completes

Co-Authored-By: Proof of Concept <poc@bcachefs.org>

src/agent/oneshot.rs

@@ -102,7 +102,11 @@ impl Backend {
 }
 
 /// Resolve {{placeholder}} templates in subconscious agent prompts.
-fn resolve_prompt(template: &str, memory_keys: &[String], walked: &[String]) -> String {
+fn resolve_prompt(
+    template: &str,
+    memory_keys: &[String],
+    state: &std::collections::BTreeMap<String, String>,
+) -> String {
     let cfg = crate::config::get();
     let template = template.replace("{assistant_name}", &cfg.assistant_name);
     let mut result = String::with_capacity(template.len());
@@ -112,15 +116,18 @@ fn resolve_prompt(template: &str, memory_keys: &[String], walked: &[String]) ->
         let after = &rest[start + 2..];
         if let Some(end) = after.find("}}") {
             let name = after[..end].trim();
-            let replacement = match name {
+            let replacement = if let Some(key) = name.strip_prefix("state:") {
+                state.get(key).cloned().unwrap_or_else(|| "(not set)".to_string())
+            } else {
+                match name {
                     "seen_current" => format_key_list(memory_keys),
-                "walked" => format_key_list(walked),
                     _ => {
                         result.push_str("{{");
                         result.push_str(&after[..end + 2]);
                         rest = &after[end + 2..];
                         continue;
                     }
+                }
             };
             result.push_str(&replacement);
             rest = &after[end + 2..];
@@ -133,6 +140,8 @@ fn resolve_prompt(template: &str, memory_keys: &[String], walked: &[String]) ->
     result
 }
 
+
+
 fn format_key_list(keys: &[String]) -> String {
     if keys.is_empty() { "(none)".to_string() }
     else { keys.iter().map(|k| format!("- {}", k)).collect::<Vec<_>>().join("\n") }
@@ -177,10 +186,10 @@ impl AutoAgent {
         &mut self,
         agent: &std::sync::Arc<tokio::sync::Mutex<Agent>>,
         memory_keys: &[String],
-        walked: &[String],
+        state: &std::collections::BTreeMap<String, String>,
     ) -> Result<String, String> {
         let resolved_steps: Vec<AutoStep> = self.steps.iter().map(|s| AutoStep {
-            prompt: resolve_prompt(&s.prompt, memory_keys, walked),
+            prompt: resolve_prompt(&s.prompt, memory_keys, state),
             phase: s.phase.clone(),
         }).collect();
         let orig_steps = std::mem::replace(&mut self.steps, resolved_steps);

src/mind/dmn.rs

@@ -298,10 +298,8 @@ pub struct SubconsciousSnapshot {
     pub forked_agent: Option<Arc<tokio::sync::Mutex<crate::agent::Agent>>>,
     /// Entry index where the fork diverged.
     pub fork_point: usize,
-    /// Persistent agent state — accumulated across runs.
+    /// Shared persistent state — accumulated across all agent runs.
     pub state: std::collections::BTreeMap<String, String>,
-    /// Persistent walked keys (shared state, relevant for surface).
-    pub walked: Vec<String>,
     /// Recent store activity for this agent: (key, timestamp), newest first.
     pub history: Vec<(String, i64)>,
 }
@@ -317,8 +315,6 @@ struct SubconsciousAgent {
     /// Entry index where the fork diverged from the conscious agent.
     fork_point: usize,
     handle: Option<tokio::task::JoinHandle<(AutoAgent, Result<String, String>)>>,
-    /// Persistent state — accumulated across runs, serialized to disk.
-    persistent_state: std::collections::BTreeMap<String, String>,
 }
 
 impl SubconsciousAgent {
@@ -348,7 +344,6 @@ impl SubconsciousAgent {
             name: name.to_string(),
             auto, last_trigger_bytes: 0, last_run: None,
             forked_agent: None, fork_point: 0, handle: None,
-            persistent_state: std::collections::BTreeMap::new(),
         })
     }
 
@@ -362,14 +357,7 @@ impl SubconsciousAgent {
         conversation_bytes.saturating_sub(self.last_trigger_bytes) >= interval
     }
 
-    fn snapshot(&self, walked: &[String], history: Vec<(String, i64)>) -> SubconsciousSnapshot {
+    fn snapshot(&self, state: &std::collections::BTreeMap<String, String>, history: Vec<(String, i64)>) -> SubconsciousSnapshot {
-        // Merge persistent state with any live outputs from a running agent
-        let mut state = self.persistent_state.clone();
-        if self.is_running() {
-            for (k, v) in &self.auto.outputs {
-                state.insert(k.clone(), v.clone());
-            }
-        }
         SubconsciousSnapshot {
             name: self.name.clone(),
             running: self.is_running(),
@@ -378,18 +366,18 @@ impl SubconsciousAgent {
             last_run_secs_ago: self.last_run.map(|t| t.elapsed().as_secs_f64()),
             forked_agent: self.forked_agent.clone(),
             fork_point: self.fork_point,
-            state,
+            state: state.clone(),
-            walked: walked.to_vec(),
             history,
         }
     }
 }
 
 /// Background agent orchestration — owns the subconscious agents
-/// and their shared state (walked keys, etc.).
+/// and their shared persistent state.
 pub struct Subconscious {
     agents: Vec<SubconsciousAgent>,
-    pub walked: Vec<String>,
+    /// Shared state across all agents — persisted to disk.
+    pub state: std::collections::BTreeMap<String, String>,
     state_path: Option<std::path::PathBuf>,
 }
 
@@ -398,30 +386,18 @@ impl Subconscious {
         let agents = AGENTS.iter()
             .filter_map(|(name, _)| SubconsciousAgent::new(name))
             .collect();
-        Self { agents, walked: Vec::new(), state_path: None }
+        Self { agents, state: std::collections::BTreeMap::new(), state_path: None }
     }
 
     /// Set the state file path and load any existing state from disk.
     pub fn set_state_path(&mut self, path: std::path::PathBuf) {
         if let Ok(data) = std::fs::read_to_string(&path) {
             if let Ok(saved) = serde_json::from_str::<
-                std::collections::BTreeMap<String, std::collections::BTreeMap<String, String>>
+                std::collections::BTreeMap<String, String>
             >(&data) {
-                for agent in &mut self.agents {
+                self.state = saved;
-                    if let Some(state) = saved.get(&agent.name) {
+                dbglog!("[subconscious] loaded {} state keys from {}",
-                        agent.persistent_state = state.clone();
+                    self.state.len(), path.display());
-                    }
-                }
-                // Restore walked from surface agent if present
-                if let Some(surface) = self.agents.iter().find(|a| a.name == "subconscious-surface") {
-                    if let Some(walked_str) = surface.persistent_state.get("walked") {
-                        self.walked = walked_str.lines()
-                            .map(|l| l.trim().to_string())
-                            .filter(|l| !l.is_empty())
-                            .collect();
-                    }
-                }
-                dbglog!("[subconscious] loaded state from {}", path.display());
             }
         }
         self.state_path = Some(path);
@@ -429,25 +405,24 @@ impl Subconscious {
 
     fn save_state(&self) {
         let Some(path) = &self.state_path else { return };
-        let mut map: std::collections::BTreeMap<String, std::collections::BTreeMap<String, String>> =
+        if let Ok(json) = serde_json::to_string_pretty(&self.state) {
-            std::collections::BTreeMap::new();
-        for agent in &self.agents {
-            if !agent.persistent_state.is_empty() {
-                map.insert(agent.name.clone(), agent.persistent_state.clone());
-            }
-        }
-        if let Ok(json) = serde_json::to_string_pretty(&map) {
             let _ = std::fs::write(path, json);
         }
     }
 
+    pub fn walked(&self) -> Vec<String> {
+        self.state.get("walked")
+            .map(|s| s.lines().map(|l| l.trim().to_string()).filter(|l| !l.is_empty()).collect())
+            .unwrap_or_default()
+    }
+
     pub fn snapshots(&self, store: Option<&crate::store::Store>) -> Vec<SubconsciousSnapshot> {
         self.agents.iter().map(|s| {
             let history = store.map(|st| {
                 let prov = format!("agent:{}", s.name);
                 st.recent_by_provenance(&prov, 30)
             }).unwrap_or_default();
-            s.snapshot(&self.walked, history)
+            s.snapshot(&self.state, history)
         }).collect()
     }
 
@@ -475,16 +450,9 @@ impl Subconscious {
                 Ok(_) => {
                     let name = self.agents[idx].name.clone();
                     let outputs = std::mem::take(&mut self.agents[idx].auto.outputs);
-                    // Merge into persistent state
+                    // Merge into shared persistent state
                     for (k, v) in &outputs {
-                        self.agents[idx].persistent_state.insert(k.clone(), v.clone());
+                        self.state.insert(k.clone(), v.clone());
-                    }
-
-                    if let Some(walked_str) = outputs.get("walked") {
-                        self.walked = walked_str.lines()
-                            .map(|l| l.trim().to_string())
-                            .filter(|l| !l.is_empty())
-                            .collect();
                     }
 
                     // Inject all outputs into the conscious agent under one lock
@@ -577,7 +545,6 @@ impl Subconscious {
         if to_run.is_empty() { return; }
 
         let conscious = agent.lock().await;
-        let walked = self.walked.clone();
         for (idx, mut auto) in to_run {
             dbglog!("[subconscious] triggering {}", auto.name);
 
@@ -590,10 +557,10 @@ impl Subconscious {
             self.agents[idx].fork_point = fork_point;
 
             let keys = memory_keys.clone();
-            let w = walked.clone();
+            let st = self.state.clone();
 
             self.agents[idx].handle = Some(tokio::spawn(async move {
-                let result = auto.run_forked_shared(&shared_forked, &keys, &w).await;
+                let result = auto.run_forked_shared(&shared_forked, &keys, &st).await;
                 (auto, result)
             }));
         }

src/mind/mod.rs

@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ impl Mind {
     }
 
     pub async fn subconscious_walked(&self) -> Vec<String> {
-        self.subconscious.lock().await.walked.clone()
+        self.subconscious.lock().await.walked()
     }
 
     pub async fn init(&self) {

src/subconscious/agents/subconscious-journal.agent

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ The full conversation is in context above — use it to understand what your
 conscious self is doing and thinking about.
 
 Nodes your subconscious recently touched (for linking, not duplicating):
-{{walked}}
+{{state:walked}}
 
 **Your tools:** journal_tail, journal_new, journal_update, memory_link_add,
 memory_search, memory_render, memory_used. Do NOT use memory_write — creating

src/subconscious/agents/subconscious-observe.agent

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ You are an agent of {assistant_name}'s subconscious — the librarian of the
 memory system. The full conversation is in context above.
 
 Nodes your surface agent was exploring:
-{{walked}}
+{{state:walked}}
 
 Starting with these nodes, do some graph maintenance and organization so that
 you can find things easier in the future. Consider if nodes have the right

src/subconscious/agents/subconscious-reflect.agent

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ The full conversation is in context above — use it to understand what your
 conscious self is doing and thinking about.
 
 Memories your surface agent was exploring:
-{{walked}}
+{{state:walked}}
 
 Start from the nodes surface-observe was walking. Render one or two that
 catch your attention — then ask "what does this mean?" Follow the links in

src/subconscious/agents/subconscious-surface.agent

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Already in current context (don't re-surface unless the conversation has shifted
 {{seen_current}}
 
 Memories you were exploring last time but hadn't surfaced yet:
-{{walked}}
+{{state:walked}}
 
 How focused is the current conversation? If it's more focused, look for the
 useful and relevant memories, When considering relevance, don't just look for

src/user/subconscious.rs

@@ -241,17 +241,21 @@ impl SubconsciousScreen {
                 }
             }
 
-            if !snap.walked.is_empty() {
+            if let Some(walked_str) = snap.state.get("walked") {
+                let walked: Vec<&str> = walked_str.lines()
+                    .map(|l| l.trim()).filter(|l| !l.is_empty()).collect();
+                if !walked.is_empty() {
                     lines.push(Line::raw(""));
                     lines.push(Line::styled(
-                    format!("  walked ({}):", snap.walked.len()),
+                        format!("  walked ({}):", walked.len()),
                         Style::default().fg(Color::Cyan),
                     ));
-                for key in &snap.walked {
+                    for key in &walked {
                         lines.push(Line::styled(format!("    {}", key), dim));
                     }
                 }
             }
+        }
 
         let mut block = pane_block_focused(&title, self.focus == Pane::History);
         if self.focus == Pane::History {