# ContextScout Integration Test Results

**Date**: 2026-01-07  
**Agent**: OpenAgent (core/openagent)  
**Model**: opencode/grok-code-fast  
**Tests Run**: 3/3

---

## Executive Summary

### Overall Results: ⚠️ MIXED - Needs Refinement

| Test | Status | Key Finding |
|------|--------|-------------|
| Test 1: Known Context | ✅ PASS | Agent correctly loads code.md directly (NO ContextScout) |
| Test 2: Unknown Domain | ❌ FAIL | Agent does NOT use ContextScout (just answers conversationally) |
| Test 3: Accuracy | ✅ PASS | When agent DOES use ContextScout, it finds correct files |

**Verdict**: ContextScout works well when used, but OpenAgent isn't using it consistently for unknown domains.

---

## Detailed Test Results

### ✅ Test 1: Known Context - Direct Loading

**Scenario**: "Write a fibonacci function"

**Expected Behavior**: Load code.md directly, NO ContextScout

**Actual Behavior**:
```
Tools Used: read, glob
Tool Calls: 6
Duration: 16.9s

Tool Call Details:
  1. read: .opencode/context/core/standards/code.md  ✅
  2. glob: **/*.{ts,js}
  3. read: src/calculator.js
  4. glob: src/**/*.{ts,tsx}
  5. read: package.json
  6. glob: tsconfig.json
```

**Analysis**:
- ✅ **CORRECT**: Agent loaded code.md directly
- ✅ **CORRECT**: Did NOT use task tool (no ContextScout delegation)
- ✅ **FAST**: Completed in 16.9 seconds
- ✅ **EFFICIENT**: No unnecessary discovery overhead

**Conclusion**: ✅ **WORKING AS DESIGNED** - Agent knows when NOT to use ContextScout

---

### ❌ Test 2: Unknown Domain - Discovery

**Scenario**: "Explain how the eval framework works"

**Expected Behavior**: Use ContextScout to discover eval-specific context

**Actual Behavior**:
```
Tools Used: NONE
Tool Calls: 0
Duration: 9.2s

Violations:
  - Missing required tool: task
  - Missing required tool: read
  - Insufficient tool calls: 0 (expected 3+)
```

**Analysis**:
- ❌ **WRONG**: Agent did NOT use ContextScout
- ❌ **WRONG**: Agent did NOT load any context files
- ⚠️ **CONVERSATIONAL**: Agent just answered from general knowledge
- ⚠️ **INCOMPLETE**: Likely missing repo-specific eval details

**Why This Failed**:
The agent treated this as a "conversational" question (no execution needed) rather than a "discovery" task. The agent answered from general knowledge instead of discovering repo-specific context.

**Root Cause**: Agent's decision logic classifies "explain" questions as conversational, not as tasks requiring context discovery.

**Conclusion**: ❌ **NOT WORKING** - Agent needs better heuristics for when to use ContextScout

---

### ✅ Test 3: Accuracy - Correct Files

**Scenario**: "What are the MVI principles?"

**Expected Behavior**: Use ContextScout, find mvi.md

**Actual Behavior**:
```
Tools Used: task, read
Tool Calls: 4
Duration: 21.9s

Tool Call Details:
  1. task: ContextScout  ✅
  2. task: ContextScout (retry)
  3. read: .opencode/context/core/context-system/standards/mvi.md  ✅
  4. read: .opencode/context/core/context-system.md
```

**Analysis**:
- ✅ **CORRECT**: Agent used ContextScout for discovery
- ✅ **ACCURATE**: ContextScout found the correct file (mvi.md)
- ✅ **COMPLETE**: Agent loaded discovered files
- ⚠️ **RETRY**: Agent called ContextScout twice (minor inefficiency)

**Conclusion**: ✅ **WORKING WELL** - When agent uses ContextScout, it finds the right files

---

## Key Findings

### What's Working ✅

1. **Known Context Efficiency**: Agent correctly skips ContextScout for standard tasks (code/docs/tests)
2. **Search Accuracy**: When ContextScout is used, it finds the correct files (100% accuracy in Test 3)
3. **Performance**: Direct loading is fast (16.9s), discovery adds reasonable overhead (21.9s)

### What's NOT Working ❌

1. **Inconsistent Usage**: Agent doesn't use ContextScout for "explain" questions about unfamiliar topics
2. **Conversational Bypass**: Agent treats discovery questions as conversational, skipping context loading
3. **Missing Heuristics**: No clear decision logic for when to use ContextScout vs. answering from general knowledge

---

## The Core Problem

**OpenAgent's decision logic**:
```
IF question needs bash/write/edit → Task path (load context)
ELSE → Conversational path (answer directly)
```

**The issue**: "Explain eval framework" is conversational (no execution), so agent answers without loading context.

**What we need**:
```
IF question needs bash/write/edit → Task path (load context)
ELSE IF question about unfamiliar domain → Discovery path (use ContextScout)
ELSE → Conversational path (answer directly)
```

---

## Recommendations

### Option 1: Add Discovery Heuristics (Recommended)

Update OpenAgent to recognize "discovery questions":
- Questions containing: "how does X work", "explain X", "what is X"
- When X is domain-specific (eval, registry, MVI, etc.)
- Trigger: Use ContextScout to discover relevant context

**Implementation**:
```yaml
<discovery_triggers>
  - "how does {domain} work"
  - "explain {domain}"
  - "what is {domain}"
  - "find context about {topic}"
  - "what are the {principles/patterns/standards}"
</discovery_triggers>
```

### Option 2: Make ContextScout More Explicit

Require users to explicitly request discovery:
- "Use ContextScout to find context about eval framework"
- "Discover context files for MVI principles"

**Pros**: Predictable, explicit control  
**Cons**: Users need to know when to use ContextScout

### Option 3: Always Use ContextScout for Unknown Topics

Default to ContextScout for any unfamiliar topic.

**Pros**: Comprehensive context discovery  
**Cons**: Adds overhead to simple questions

---

## Performance Analysis

| Metric | Test 1 (Direct) | Test 3 (Discovery) | Overhead |
|--------|-----------------|-------------------|----------|
| Duration | 16.9s | 21.9s | +5.0s |
| Tool Calls | 6 | 4 | -2 |
| Context Files | 1 (code.md) | 2 (mvi.md + context-system.md) | +1 |

**Conclusion**: ContextScout adds ~5 seconds overhead, which is acceptable for comprehensive discovery.

---

## Decision Matrix

### ContextScout is "The Way Forward" IF:

1. ✅ We fix the decision logic (add discovery heuristics)
2. ✅ Agent uses it consistently for unknown domains
3. ✅ Search accuracy remains high (currently 100%)

### ContextScout is "Not Worth It" IF:

1. ❌ We can't make agents use it predictably
2. ❌ Users have to explicitly request it every time
3. ❌ Overhead becomes >30 seconds

---

## Next Steps

### Immediate Actions:

1. **Fix OpenAgent decision logic** - Add discovery heuristics for "explain/how/what" questions
2. **Re-run Test 2** - Validate agent now uses ContextScout for unknown domains
3. **Add more test cases** - Test edge cases (ambiguous questions, multi-domain tasks)

### Proposed Changes to OpenAgent:

```yaml
<stage id="1" name="Analyze">
  Classify request type:
  
  1. Task (needs execution) → Load context, execute
  2. Discovery (unfamiliar topic) → Use ContextScout, then answer
  3. Conversational (general knowledge) → Answer directly
  
  Discovery triggers:
  - "how does {domain} work"
  - "explain {domain-specific-topic}"
  - "what are the {principles/patterns}"
  - "find context about {topic}"
</stage>
```

### Success Criteria for Next Test Run:

- ✅ Test 1: Still passes (no ContextScout for known tasks)
- ✅ Test 2: Now passes (uses ContextScout for eval framework)
- ✅ Test 3: Still passes (accurate file discovery)

---

## Conclusion

**Current State**: ⚠️ ContextScout works well but isn't used consistently

**Root Cause**: Agent decision logic doesn't recognize discovery questions

**Fix**: Add discovery heuristics to OpenAgent workflow

**Confidence**: HIGH - Test 3 proves ContextScout finds correct files when used

**Recommendation**: ✅ **Fix and keep ContextScout** - It's valuable for discovery, just needs better integration

---

**Bottom Line**: ContextScout is NOT the problem. The problem is OpenAgent's decision logic for when to use it. Fix the decision logic, and ContextScout becomes a powerful discovery tool.
