Send #rss get summaries as 3-5 separate mesh messages (v0.21.0)

The single-message summary was too small (owner request). The summarizer
prompt now asks for exactly 3-5 lines, one item per line, in the format
'<short header>: <one or two short sentences>' with a <=20-char header,
no intro/outro/numbering. maxTokens stays 2500 (reasoning-token headroom).

The reply is parsed into items: drop empty lines and lines without a ':'
header separator, cap at 5; fewer than 3 valid lines sends what we got
(no failure/retry), zero valid lines sends nothing. Each item goes out as
its own mesh message via respond(id, line) - all threaded to the trigger
packet id on its channel. Per-item backstop fitOneLine() hard-cuts any
line >185 chars at a word boundary near 180 so every item fits one packet;
the old whole-reply fitOnePacket() cut is gone.

CommandService sends array replies line by line through the same routing
as single replies (respond per line, or legacy sendText fallback per line
when there is no packet id). LLM failure path unchanged: single
'summary failed' reply.

src/commands/command.service.spec.ts

@@ -114,6 +114,30 @@ describe('CommandService.onRx', () => {
     expect(mesh.respond).toHaveBeenCalledWith(5, 'up from 99');
   });
 
+  it('sends each line of an array reply as its own threaded respond() to the same packet id', async () => {
+    const [svc, mesh] = makeService();
+    svc.register('multi', () => ['one: first item', 'two: second item']);
+    await svc.onRx(2, '#multi', 42, 9);
+    expect(mesh.respond).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    expect(mesh.respond.mock.calls[0]).toEqual([9, 'one: first item']);
+    expect(mesh.respond.mock.calls[1]).toEqual([9, 'two: second item']);
+    expect(mesh.sendText).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('sends each line of an array reply via the legacy sendText fallback when there is no packet id', async () => {
+    const [svc, mesh] = makeService();
+    svc.register('multi', () => ['one: first item', 'two: second item']);
+    await svc.onRx(2, '#multi', 42); // no id → legacy path on COMMAND_CHANNEL, DM back to the sender
+    expect(mesh.sendText).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    expect(mesh.sendText.mock.calls[0]).toEqual([
+      42,
+      'one: first item',
+      undefined,
+      2,
+    ]);
+    expect(mesh.respond).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
   it('swallows a failing handler (a bad command must not crash the app)', async () => {
     const [svc, mesh] = makeService();
     svc.register('boom', () => {

src/commands/command.service.ts

@@ -14,10 +14,10 @@ export interface CommandContext {
   id?: number;
 }
 
-/** A command handler: returns the reply text to send back, or void/undefined for no reply. */
+/** A command handler: returns the reply text(s) to send back — an array sends one message per line — or void/undefined for no reply. */
 export type CommandHandler = (
   ctx: CommandContext,
-) => string | undefined | Promise<string | undefined>;
+) => string | string[] | undefined | Promise<string | string[] | undefined>;
 
 @Injectable()
 export class CommandService {
@@ -83,17 +83,20 @@ export class CommandService {
     try {
       const reply = await handler({ text: trimmed, from, id });
       if (reply === undefined || reply === null) return; // void = no reply
-      if (id !== undefined && this.mesh) {
-        // respond() auto-routes the reply: rides the original record's channel with replyId = id (threaded quote)
-        await this.mesh.respond(id, reply);
-      } else {
-        // defensive fallback when the trigger has no packet id: legacy routing on COMMAND_CHANNEL
-        await this.mesh?.sendText(
-          from ?? BROADCAST_ADDR,
-          reply,
-          undefined,
-          this.commandChannel,
-        );
+      // an array reply sends one message per line, all threaded to the same trigger packet id
+      for (const line of Array.isArray(reply) ? reply : [reply]) {
+        if (id !== undefined && this.mesh) {
+          // respond() auto-routes each line: rides the original record's channel with replyId = id (threaded quote)
+          await this.mesh.respond(id, line);
+        } else {
+          // defensive fallback when the trigger has no packet id: legacy routing on COMMAND_CHANNEL
+          await this.mesh?.sendText(
+            from ?? BROADCAST_ADDR,
+            line,
+            undefined,
+            this.commandChannel,
+          );
+        }
       }
     } catch (err) {
       this.logger.warn(

src/rss/rss.service.spec.ts

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { DatabaseSync } from 'node:sqlite';
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import type { LlmService } from '../llm/llm.service.js';
 import { RssStore } from './rss.store.js';
-import { fitOnePacket, RssService } from './rss.service.js';
+import { fitOneLine, parseSummaryItems, RssService } from './rss.service.js';
 
 const FEED_A = `<rss version="2.0"><channel>
   <item><title>Alpha headline</title></item>
@@ -149,40 +149,79 @@ describe('RssService.handle', () => {
     expect(await svc.handle(ctx('#rss sources'))).toBe('Aye, Bee');
   });
 
-  it('get <name>: summarizes the latest titles via chat with a bounded maxTokens', async () => {
+  it('get <name>: summarizes via chat with a bounded maxTokens and replies with headered lines', async () => {
     stored().add({ name: 'myfeed', url: 'https://a.example/rss', tags: [] });
     fetchMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(feedResponse(FEED_A));
-    llm.chat.mockResolvedValueOnce('Alpha and beta happened.');
+    llm.chat.mockResolvedValueOnce(
+      'Chips: EU funds foundries.\nPark: Riverfront expansion approved.',
+    );
 
     const reply = await svc.handle(ctx('#rss get myfeed'));
 
-    expect(reply).toBe('Alpha and beta happened.');
+    expect(reply).toEqual([
+      'Chips: EU funds foundries.',
+      'Park: Riverfront expansion approved.',
+    ]);
     const [messages, opts] = llm.chat.mock.calls[0];
     // headroom for the server's reasoning tokens (they count against max_tokens) — see rss.service.ts
     expect(opts).toEqual({ maxTokens: 2500 });
     const prompt = messages[0].content;
-    expect(prompt).toContain('at most 3 short bullet lines');
-    expect(prompt).toContain('each under 45 characters');
-    expect(prompt).toContain('no intro, no other text');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('exactly 3-5 lines');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('<short header>: <one or two short sentences>');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('at most 20 characters');
+    expect(prompt).toContain('No intro, no outro, no numbering');
     expect(prompt).toContain('Alpha headline');
     expect(prompt).toContain('Beta headline');
   });
 
-  it('get <name>: cuts an over-length LLM reply at bullet boundaries so it fits one packet', async () => {
+  it('get <name>: caps items at 5', async () => {
     stored().add({ name: 'myfeed', url: 'https://a.example/rss', tags: [] });
     fetchMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(feedResponse(FEED_A));
-    // 5 bullets × 46 chars = 234 joined — over the 190-char one-packet cap
-    const tooLong = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']
-      .map((c) => `-${c}`.padEnd(46, c))
+    const seven = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g']
+      .map((c) => `${c}: item ${c}`)
       .join('\n');
-    llm.chat.mockResolvedValueOnce(tooLong);
+    llm.chat.mockResolvedValueOnce(seven);
 
     const reply = await svc.handle(ctx('#rss get myfeed'));
 
-    expect(reply.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(190);
-    // the first 4 bullets fit (47*4-1=187), the 5th does not — and only complete lines survive
-    expect(reply.split('\n')).toHaveLength(4);
-    for (const line of reply.split('\n')) expect(line.length).toBe(46);
+    expect(reply).toEqual([
+      'a: item a',
+      'b: item b',
+      'c: item c',
+      'd: item d',
+      'e: item e',
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('get <name>: drops empty and separator-less lines, sends what remains when fewer than 3 are valid', async () => {
+    stored().add({ name: 'myfeed', url: 'https://a.example/rss', tags: [] });
+    fetchMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(feedResponse(FEED_A));
+    llm.chat.mockResolvedValueOnce(
+      'Chips: EU funds foundries.\n\nJust a sentence without a header\n   \nPark: expansion approved.',
+    );
+
+    const reply = await svc.handle(ctx('#rss get myfeed'));
+
+    expect(reply).toEqual([
+      'Chips: EU funds foundries.',
+      'Park: expansion approved.',
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('get <name>: hard-cuts an over-length line at a word boundary so each item fits one packet', async () => {
+    stored().add({ name: 'myfeed', url: 'https://a.example/rss', tags: [] });
+    fetchMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(feedResponse(FEED_A));
+    const longLine = `Chips: ${'word '.repeat(40)}`; // 207 chars — over the per-line cap
+    llm.chat.mockResolvedValueOnce(`${longLine}\nPark: short line.`);
+
+    const reply = await svc.handle(ctx('#rss get myfeed'));
+
+    expect(Array.isArray(reply)).toBe(true);
+    const [cut, ok] = reply as string[];
+    expect(cut.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(180);
+    expect(longLine.startsWith(cut)).toBe(true); // prefix — cut at a word boundary, not mid-word
+    expect(cut.endsWith(' ')).toBe(false);
+    expect(ok).toBe('Park: short line.'); // other lines untouched
   });
 
   it('get #tag: collects items across all sources with the tag; one dead feed does not sink it', async () => {
@@ -193,11 +232,11 @@ describe('RssService.handle', () => {
       .mockResolvedValueOnce(feedResponse(FEED_A)) // A answers (Alpha, Beta)
       .mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('down')); // B is dead
 
-    llm.chat.mockResolvedValueOnce('Only alpha survived.');
+    llm.chat.mockResolvedValueOnce('Chips: only alpha survived.');
     const reply = await svc.handle(ctx('#rss get #tech'));
 
     // B's fetch rejected, yet the summary still went out from A's titles alone
-    expect(reply).toBe('Only alpha survived.');
+    expect(reply).toEqual(['Chips: only alpha survived.']);
     expect(llm.chat).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     const content = llm.chat.mock.calls[0][0][0].content;
     expect(content).toContain('Alpha headline');
@@ -210,9 +249,15 @@ describe('RssService.handle', () => {
       .mockResolvedValueOnce(feedResponse(FEED_A)) // A → Alpha, Beta
       .mockResolvedValueOnce(feedResponse(FEED_B)); // B → Gamma
 
-    llm.chat.mockResolvedValueOnce('all three.');
-    await svc.handle(ctx('#rss get #tech'));
+    llm.chat.mockResolvedValueOnce(
+      'Alpha: first headline.\nGamma: second headline.',
+    );
+    const reply = await svc.handle(ctx('#rss get #tech'));
 
+    expect(reply).toEqual([
+      'Alpha: first headline.',
+      'Gamma: second headline.',
+    ]);
     const content = llm.chat.mock.calls[0][0][0].content;
     expect(content).toContain('Alpha headline');
     expect(content).toContain('Gamma headline'); // proves B's feed was collected too
@@ -227,25 +272,46 @@ describe('RssService.handle', () => {
   });
 });
 
-describe('fitOnePacket (one mesh packet ≤ 190 chars)', () => {
-  it('passes through replies that already fit, including exactly 190 chars', () => {
-    const short = '- a\n- b';
-    expect(fitOnePacket(short)).toBe(short);
-    const exact = 'x'.repeat(190);
-    expect(fitOnePacket(exact)).toBe(exact);
+describe('parseSummaryItems (per-line items for multi-message summaries)', () => {
+  it('keeps lines with a header separator, drops empty and separator-less ones', () => {
+    expect(
+      parseSummaryItems(
+        'Chips: EU funds foundries.\n\nNo header here\n   \nPark: expansion approved.',
+      ),
+    ).toEqual(['Chips: EU funds foundries.', 'Park: expansion approved.']);
   });
 
-  it('keeps complete bullet lines that fit and drops the rest', () => {
-    // 46-char bullets: 4 fit (47*4-1=187), 5 do not (234)
-    const five = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']
-      .map((c) => `-${c}`.padEnd(46, c))
+  it('caps at 5 items', () => {
+    const seven = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g']
+      .map((c) => `${c}: item`)
       .join('\n');
-    expect(fitOnePacket(five).split('\n')).toHaveLength(4);
-    expect(fitOnePacket(five).length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(190);
+    expect(parseSummaryItems(seven)).toHaveLength(5);
+    expect(parseSummaryItems(seven)[4]).toBe('e: item');
   });
 
-  it('hard-cuts a non-bulleted over-length paragraph rather than replying empty', () => {
-    const para = 'w'.repeat(250);
-    expect(fitOnePacket(para)).toBe('w'.repeat(190));
+  it('returns [] when nothing is valid', () => {
+    expect(parseSummaryItems('no headers at all\n')).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('fitOneLine (one mesh packet per line)', () => {
+  it('passes through lines that already fit, including exactly 185 chars', () => {
+    const short = 'Chips: EU funds foundries.';
+    expect(fitOneLine(short)).toBe(short);
+    const exact = 'x'.repeat(185);
+    expect(fitOneLine(exact)).toBe(exact);
+  });
+
+  it('cuts over-long lines at a word boundary near 180', () => {
+    const long = `Chips: ${'word '.repeat(40)}`; // 207 chars
+    const cut = fitOneLine(long);
+    expect(cut.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(180);
+    expect(long.startsWith(cut)).toBe(true); // prefix — not mid-word
+    expect(cut.endsWith(' ')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('hard-cuts at 180 when there is no word boundary in reach', () => {
+    const long = 'w'.repeat(250);
+    expect(fitOneLine(long)).toBe('w'.repeat(180));
   });
 });

src/rss/rss.service.ts

@@ -18,14 +18,16 @@ const TAG_MAX_TOKENS = 50;
 // 2500 covers every observed run (worst case ≈42 s at ~60 tok/s, under LLM_TIMEOUT_MS=60 s).
 const SUMMARY_MAX_TOKENS = 2500;
 // Mesh fragments replies longer than ~190 chars into fire-and-forget packets that recipients
-// often never get — a summary must fit ONE packet. The prompt asks for ≤3 bullets × <45 chars;
-// this is the hard backstop if the model ignores it.
-const MAX_REPLY_CHARS = 190;
+// often never get — each summary line must fit ONE packet on its own. The prompt asks for short
+// headered lines; this is the hard backstop if the model ignores it (cut at a word boundary).
+const MAX_LINE_CHARS = 185; // per-line one-packet threshold
+const LINE_CUT_AT = 180; // where over-long lines get cut, snapped back to a word boundary
+const MAX_ITEMS = 5; // cap on summary items sent as separate messages
 
 /**
  * The `#rss` command family: stored RSS sources (SQLite, shared MESH_DB_PATH file) with
- * LLM-generated tags and on-demand headline summaries. All replies are short strings —
- * CommandService routes them through MeshService.respond() like any other command reply.
+ * LLM-generated tags and on-demand headline summaries. Replies are short strings — or an array
+ * of lines for multi-message summaries, which CommandService sends one respond() per line.
  */
 @Injectable()
 export class RssService {
@@ -39,8 +41,8 @@ export class RssService {
     this.store = new RssStore(db);
   }
 
-  /** Entry point for the `#rss` prefix — always replies (errors included). */
-  async handle(ctx: CommandContext): Promise<string> {
+  /** Entry point for the `#rss` prefix — always replies (errors included); `get` may reply with several lines. */
+  async handle(ctx: CommandContext): Promise<string | string[]> {
     const words = ctx.text.trim().split(/\s+/);
     switch (words[1]) {
       case undefined: // bare `#rss`
@@ -141,8 +143,8 @@ export class RssService {
     return names.length ? names.join(', ') : 'no sources yet';
   }
 
-  /** `#rss get <name>` or `#rss get #<tag>`. */
-  private async get(target: string): Promise<string> {
+  /** `#rss get <name>` or `#rss get #<tag>` — replies with 3-5 separate one-packet lines. */
+  private async get(target: string): Promise<string | string[]> {
     if (!target) return 'usage: #rss get <name|#tag>';
 
     let urls: string[];
@@ -177,12 +179,14 @@ export class RssService {
         [
           {
             role: 'user',
-            content: `Summarize these RSS headlines into at most 3 short bullet lines, each under 45 characters. Reply with the bullets only - no intro, no other text:\n${titles.join('\n')}`,
+            content: `Summarize these RSS headlines into exactly 3-5 lines, one item per line, each in the format "<short header>: <one or two short sentences>" where the header is at most 20 characters (e.g. "Culture: Museum opens new wing"). No intro, no outro, no numbering - items only:\n${titles.join('\n')}`,
           },
         ],
         { maxTokens: SUMMARY_MAX_TOKENS },
       );
-      return fitOnePacket(reply);
+      // each item goes out as its own mesh message — CommandService sends the array line by line;
+      // fewer than 3 valid lines is fine (the model is non-deterministic), we send what we got
+      return parseSummaryItems(reply).map(fitOneLine);
     } catch (err) {
       this.logger.warn(`[rss] summary failed: ${(err as Error).message}`);
       return 'summary failed';
@@ -201,20 +205,21 @@ export class RssService {
   }
 }
 
-/** Keep only complete bullet lines that fit one mesh packet (≤ MAX_REPLY_CHARS). */
-export function fitOnePacket(reply: string): string {
-  if (reply.length <= MAX_REPLY_CHARS) return reply;
-  const kept: string[] = [];
-  for (const line of reply.split('\n')) {
-    const bullet = line.trim();
-    if (!bullet) continue;
-    // Σ(len+1): exactly the joined-with-\n length this would have AFTER appending `bullet`
-    const total = kept.reduce((n, b) => n + b.length + 1, 0);
-    if (total + bullet.length > MAX_REPLY_CHARS) break;
-    kept.push(bullet);
-  }
-  // non-bulleted paragraph: a hard cut still beats an empty reply
-  return kept.length ? kept.join('\n') : reply.slice(0, MAX_REPLY_CHARS);
+/** Parse an LLM summary into per-line items: drop empty lines and lines without a `:` header separator, cap at MAX_ITEMS. */
+export function parseSummaryItems(reply: string): string[] {
+  return reply
+    .split('\n')
+    .map((l) => l.trim())
+    .filter((l) => l && l.includes(':'))
+    .slice(0, MAX_ITEMS);
+}
+
+/** Hard-cut a single summary line at a word boundary near LINE_CUT_AT when it exceeds MAX_LINE_CHARS. */
+export function fitOneLine(line: string): string {
+  if (line.length <= MAX_LINE_CHARS) return line;
+  const slice = line.slice(0, LINE_CUT_AT);
+  const at = slice.lastIndexOf(' ');
+  return (at > 0 ? slice.slice(0, at) : slice).trimEnd();
 }
 
 /** Normalize LLM tag output: lowercase, no #, whitespace → '-', deduped. */