Cap the size of every tool result so a single verbose command (recursive
find, noisy scanner, full page dump) can't pin the conversation near the
model's context window for the rest of a scan.
- New ContextSettings config group with env-tunable caps.
- Default the SDK shell tools' max_output_tokens so exec_command /
write_stdin truncate head+tail instead of returning unbounded output.
- Bound Strix's own FunctionTool/CustomTool results (line + UTF-8 byte
head+tail preview with a truncation notice) and cap error strings.
Replaces 200+ lines of bespoke env-loader / persist / change-detection
machinery with ``pydantic_settings.BaseSettings`` (already a transitive
of ``openai-agents → mcp``, no new direct dep).
What was wrong with ``Config``:
- 14 knobs flat in one namespace, weak grouping by comment-block.
- ``Config._applied_from_default`` and ``Config._config_file_override``
were externally mutated from ``interface/main.py:532-534``. Private
members were part of the public contract.
- Stringly-typed values: every caller had to coerce
(``int(Config.get("llm_timeout") or "300")``,
``... not in {"0", "false", "no", "off"}``).
- Dead knob: ``strix_llm_max_retries`` declared, persisted, listed in
``_LLM_CANONICAL_NAMES`` — zero readers (``DEFAULT_RETRY``
hardcodes ``max_retries=5``). Dropped.
- ``_LLM_CANONICAL_NAMES`` tuple maintained alongside class vars —
duplicate source of truth.
- ``_tracked_names()`` introspected ``vars(cls).items()`` filtered on
``(v is None or isinstance(v, str))`` — fragile.
- Awkward path: ``strix/config/config.py`` inside ``strix/config/``
with ``__init__.py`` just re-exporting.
- Dual access for the same fact: ``web_search`` read
``os.getenv("PERPLEXITY_API_KEY")`` while ``main.py`` read
``Config.get("perplexity_api_key")``.
New shape:
- ``strix/config/settings.py`` — typed dataclass tree:
``Settings.{llm,runtime,telemetry,integrations}``. Each sub-model is
its own ``BaseSettings`` so it reads env independently. Field-level
``alias=`` and ``validation_alias=AliasChoices(...)`` mirror the
existing flat env-var names — user-facing env contract is unchanged.
Bool fields auto-parse ``"0"``/``"false"``/``"no"``/``"off"``;
int fields auto-coerce.
- ``strix/config/loader.py`` — thin ``load_settings()``,
``apply_config_override(path)``, ``persist_current()`` with module
cache. JSON file reader walks aliases to populate sub-models, dropping
entries already covered by env (so env still wins).
- 13 callsites migrated from ``Config.get("...")`` to
``load_settings().<group>.<field>``.
- ``posthog._is_enabled()`` collapses to one line.
- ``--config <path>`` flow simplified: one
``apply_config_override(...)`` call replaces three lines of
class-private mutation.
Drive-by — drop ``is_whitebox`` from ``scan_config`` dict:
- It was being derived as ``bool(args.local_sources)`` in three places
(``cli.py``, ``tui.py``, ``main.py``) and stuffed into the dict for
``entry.py`` to read back. The fact is fully derivable from
``scan_config["targets"]`` — any target with ``type == "local_code"``.
- New helper ``is_whitebox_scan(targets)`` in ``interface/utils.py``
alongside the other target-classification utilities.
- ``entry.py`` computes once; ``main.py``'s posthog start uses the same
helper. Triplicate derivation gone.
Verified: ruff at baseline (3), mypy at baseline (69). Six smoke tests
pass — defaults / JSON-only / env-wins-over-JSON / alias-chain
fallback / bool parsing / ``is_whitebox_scan``.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Add Config class with all env var defaults in one place
- Auto-load saved config on startup (env vars take precedence)
- Auto-save config after successful LLM warm-up
- Replace scattered os.getenv() calls with Config.get()
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Ahmed Allam