delete dead flat-file journal tool and ephemeral stripping

Journal entries are written to the memory graph via journal_new/
journal_update, not appended to a flat file. Remove thought/journal.rs
(67 lines), strip_ephemeral_tool_calls (55 lines), default_journal_path,
and all wiring. -141 lines.

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

src/agent/runner.rs

@@ -362,10 +362,7 @@ impl Agent {
 
             let msg = crate::agent::api::build_response_message(content, tool_calls);
 
-            // Strip ephemeral tool calls (journal) that the API has
+
-            // now processed. They're persisted to disk; no need to keep
-            // them in the conversation history burning tokens.
-            self.strip_ephemeral_tool_calls();
 
             if let Some(usage) = &usage {
                 self.last_prompt_tokens = usage.prompt_tokens;
@@ -897,66 +894,6 @@ impl Agent {
 
     /// Strip ephemeral tool calls from the conversation history.
     ///
-    /// Ephemeral tools (like journal) persist their output to disk,
-    /// so the tool call + result don't need to stay in the context
-    /// window. We keep them for exactly one API round-trip (the model
-    /// needs to see the result was acknowledged), then strip them.
-    ///
-    /// If an assistant message contains ONLY ephemeral tool calls,
-    /// the entire message and its tool results are removed. If mixed
-    /// with non-ephemeral calls, we leave it (rare case, small cost).
-    fn strip_ephemeral_tool_calls(&mut self) {
-        // Collect IDs of tool calls to strip
-        let mut strip_ids: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
-        let mut strip_msg_indices: Vec<usize> = Vec::new();
-
-        for (i, entry) in self.context.entries.iter().enumerate() {
-            let msg = entry.message();
-            if msg.role != Role::Assistant {
-                continue;
-            }
-            let calls = match &msg.tool_calls {
-                Some(c) if !c.is_empty() => c,
-                _ => continue,
-            };
-
-            let all_ephemeral = calls.iter().all(|c| {
-                c.function.name == tools::journal::TOOL_NAME
-            });
-
-            if all_ephemeral {
-                strip_msg_indices.push(i);
-                for call in calls {
-                    strip_ids.push(call.id.clone());
-                }
-            }
-        }
-
-        if strip_ids.is_empty() {
-            return;
-        }
-
-        // Remove in reverse order to preserve indices
-        self.context.entries.retain(|entry| {
-            let msg = entry.message();
-            if msg.role == Role::Assistant {
-                if let Some(calls) = &msg.tool_calls {
-                    if calls.iter().all(|c| strip_ids.contains(&c.id)) {
-                        return false;
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-            if msg.role == Role::Tool {
-                if let Some(ref id) = msg.tool_call_id {
-                    if strip_ids.contains(id) {
-                        return false;
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-            true
-        });
-    }
-
     /// Last prompt token count reported by the API.
     pub fn last_prompt_tokens(&self) -> u32 {
         self.last_prompt_tokens

src/agent/tools/mod.rs

@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ pub mod working_stack;
 // Re-export shared infrastructure from thought
 pub use crate::thought::{ToolOutput, ProcessTracker, truncate_output};
 pub use crate::thought::memory;
-pub use crate::thought::journal;
 
 use crate::agent::types::ToolDef;
 

src/thought/context.rs

@@ -15,13 +15,6 @@ pub struct JournalEntry {
     pub content: String,
 }
 
-/// Default journal file path (used by the write path only).
-pub fn default_journal_path() -> std::path::PathBuf {
-    dirs::home_dir()
-        .unwrap_or_default()
-        .join(".consciousness/journal.md")
-}
-
 /// Look up a model's context window size in tokens.
 pub fn model_context_window(_model: &str) -> usize {
     crate::config::get().api_context_window

src/thought/journal.rs

@@ -1,67 +0,0 @@
-// tools/journal.rs — Native journal tool
-//
-// Appends entries directly to the journal file without spawning a
-// shell. The entry is persisted to disk immediately.
-//
-// This tool is "ephemeral" — after the API processes the tool call
-// and result, the agent strips them from the conversation history.
-// The journal file is the durable store; keeping the tool call in
-// context would just waste tokens on something already persisted.
-
-use anyhow::{Context, Result};
-use serde_json::json;
-
-use super::ToolDef;
-
-/// Tool name — used by the agent to identify ephemeral tool calls.
-pub const TOOL_NAME: &str = "journal";
-
-pub fn definition() -> ToolDef {
-    ToolDef::new(
-        TOOL_NAME,
-        "Write a journal entry. The entry is appended to your journal file \
-         with an automatic timestamp. Use this for experiences, reflections, \
-         observations — anything worth remembering across sessions. \
-         This tool has zero context cost: entries are persisted to disk \
-         and loaded by the context manager, not kept in conversation history.",
-        json!({
-            "type": "object",
-            "properties": {
-                "entry": {
-                    "type": "string",
-                    "description": "The journal entry text. Write naturally — \
-                        experiences, not task logs."
-                }
-            },
-            "required": ["entry"]
-        }),
-    )
-}
-
-pub fn write_entry(args: &serde_json::Value) -> Result<String> {
-    let entry = args["entry"]
-        .as_str()
-        .context("entry is required")?;
-
-    let journal_path = crate::thought::context::default_journal_path();
-
-    // Ensure parent directory exists
-    if let Some(parent) = journal_path.parent() {
-        std::fs::create_dir_all(parent).ok();
-    }
-
-    let timestamp = chrono::Utc::now().format("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M");
-
-    // Append with the same format as poc-journal write
-    use std::io::Write;
-    let mut file = std::fs::OpenOptions::new()
-        .create(true)
-        .append(true)
-        .open(&journal_path)
-        .with_context(|| format!("Failed to open {}", journal_path.display()))?;
-
-    writeln!(file, "\n## {}\n\n{}", timestamp, entry)
-        .with_context(|| "Failed to write journal entry")?;
-
-    Ok("Logged.".to_string())
-}

src/thought/mod.rs

@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ pub mod context;
 pub mod edit;
 pub mod glob_tool;
 pub mod grep;
-pub mod journal;
 pub mod memory;
 pub mod read;
 pub mod write;
@@ -93,7 +92,6 @@ pub async fn dispatch(
         "bash" => bash::run_bash(args, tracker).await,
         "grep" => grep::grep(args),
         "glob" => glob_tool::glob_search(args),
-        "journal" => journal::write_entry(args),
         _ => return None,
     };
 
@@ -112,7 +110,6 @@ pub fn definitions() -> Vec<ToolDef> {
         bash::definition(),
         grep::definition(),
         glob_tool::definition(),
-        journal::definition(),
     ]
 }