From 2600c6520be94f290d482e8b19f25d8ac1cef0db Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: John Fawcett <jrf0110@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:56:29 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] feat(gastown): inject quality gates into polecat system
 prompt for pre-submission validation

Adds gates parameter to buildPolecatSystemPrompt that injects the town's
configured quality gates (from townConfig.refinery.gates) into a
Pre-Submission Gates section of the polecat prompt. Polecats now
self-validate by running lint/test/build before calling gt_done, catching
failures in-session instead of wasting a refinery round-trip.

Closes #958
---
 .../src/dos/town/container-dispatch.ts        |  3 +++
 .../src/prompts/polecat-system.prompt.test.ts | 18 ++++++++++++++++
 .../src/prompts/polecat-system.prompt.ts      | 21 ++++++++++++++++++-
 3 files changed, 41 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/cloudflare-gastown/src/dos/town/container-dispatch.ts b/cloudflare-gastown/src/dos/town/container-dispatch.ts
index 158e95b710..f10fc4e180 100644
--- a/cloudflare-gastown/src/dos/town/container-dispatch.ts
+++ b/cloudflare-gastown/src/dos/town/container-dispatch.ts
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ export function systemPromptForRole(params: {
   agentName: string;
   rigId: string;
   townId: string;
+  gates: string[];
 }): string {
   switch (params.role) {
     case 'polecat':
@@ -158,6 +159,7 @@ export function systemPromptForRole(params: {
         rigId: params.rigId,
         townId: params.townId,
         identity: params.identity,
+        gates: params.gates,
       });
     case 'mayor':
       return buildMayorSystemPrompt({
@@ -333,6 +335,7 @@ export async function startAgentInContainer(
             agentName: params.agentName,
             rigId: params.rigId,
             townId: params.townId,
+            gates: params.townConfig.refinery?.gates ?? [],
           }),
         gitUrl: params.gitUrl,
         branch: params.convoyFeatureBranch
diff --git a/cloudflare-gastown/src/prompts/polecat-system.prompt.test.ts b/cloudflare-gastown/src/prompts/polecat-system.prompt.test.ts
index 17397a74dd..c62a4cd9cb 100644
--- a/cloudflare-gastown/src/prompts/polecat-system.prompt.test.ts
+++ b/cloudflare-gastown/src/prompts/polecat-system.prompt.test.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ describe('buildPolecatSystemPrompt', () => {
     rigId: 'rig-123',
     townId: 'town-abc',
     identity: 'polecat-alpha',
+    gates: [],
   };
 
   it('should include agent name and identity', () => {
@@ -50,4 +51,21 @@ describe('buildPolecatSystemPrompt', () => {
     expect(prompt).toContain('gt_escalate');
     expect(prompt).toContain('stuck');
   });
+
+  it('should include Pre-Submission Gates section when gates are provided', () => {
+    const prompt = buildPolecatSystemPrompt({
+      ...params,
+      gates: ['pnpm test', 'pnpm lint', 'pnpm build'],
+    });
+    expect(prompt).toContain('## Pre-Submission Gates');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('1. `pnpm test`');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('2. `pnpm lint`');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('3. `pnpm build`');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('Do NOT call gt_done until all gates pass');
+  });
+
+  it('should not include Pre-Submission Gates section when gates is empty', () => {
+    const prompt = buildPolecatSystemPrompt({ ...params, gates: [] });
+    expect(prompt).not.toContain('## Pre-Submission Gates');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/cloudflare-gastown/src/prompts/polecat-system.prompt.ts b/cloudflare-gastown/src/prompts/polecat-system.prompt.ts
index b47f755481..ea57e1077b 100644
--- a/cloudflare-gastown/src/prompts/polecat-system.prompt.ts
+++ b/cloudflare-gastown/src/prompts/polecat-system.prompt.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,26 @@ export function buildPolecatSystemPrompt(params: {
   rigId: string;
   townId: string;
   identity: string;
+  gates: string[];
 }): string {
+  const gatesSection =
+    params.gates.length > 0
+      ? `
+## Pre-Submission Gates
+
+Before calling gt_done, run ALL of the following quality gates to validate your work:
+
+${params.gates.map((g, i) => `${i + 1}. \`${g}\``).join('\n')}
+
+If any gate fails:
+- Fix the issue and re-run the failing gate.
+- Repeat until all gates pass.
+- If you cannot fix a gate failure after a few attempts, call gt_escalate with the full failure output, then call gt_done anyway — let the refinery make the final call.
+
+Do NOT call gt_done until all gates pass (or you have escalated a failure you cannot fix).
+`
+      : '';
+
   return `You are ${params.agentName}, a polecat agent in Gastown rig "${params.rigId}" (town "${params.townId}").
 Your identity: ${params.identity}
 
@@ -38,7 +57,7 @@ You have these tools available. Use them to coordinate with the Gastown orchestr
 3. **Commit frequently**: Make small, focused commits. Push often. The container's disk is ephemeral — if it restarts, unpushed work is lost.
 4. **Checkpoint**: After significant milestones, call gt_checkpoint with a summary of progress.
 5. **Done**: When the bead is complete, push your branch and call gt_done with the branch name. The bead transitions to \`in_review\` and the refinery picks it up for merge. If the review fails (rework), you will be re-dispatched with the bead back in \`in_progress\`.
-
+${gatesSection}
 ## Commit & Push Hygiene
 
 - Commit after every meaningful unit of work (new function, passing test, config change).