manual_slop/conductor/tracks/enhanced_context_control_20260307/plan.md

Implementation Plan: Enhanced Context Control & Cache Awareness (enhanced_context_control_20260307)

Reference: Spec | Architecture Guide

Phase 1: Data Model & Project Configuration

Focus: Update the underlying structures to support per-file flags.

• Task 1.1: Update FileItem dataclass/model to include auto_aggregate and force_full flags.
• Task 1.2: Modify project_manager.py to parse and serialize these new flags in manual_slop.toml or project.toml. Ensure backward compatibility with existing simple file lists.

Phase 2: Context Builder Updates

Focus: Make the context aggregation logic respect the new flags.

• Task 2.1: Update aggregate.py to filter out files where auto_aggregate is False.
• Task 2.2: Modify skeleton generation logic in aggregate.py to send full content when force_full is True.
• Task 2.3: Add support for manual 'Context' role injections to bypass auto_aggregate restrictions for specific turns.

Phase 3: Gemini Cache Tracking

Focus: Track and expose API cache state.

• Task 3.1: Modify ai_client.py's Gemini cache logic to record which file paths/hashes are currently in the active server-side cache.
• Task 3.2: Create an event payload (e.g., via comms_log_callback or a dedicated queue event) to push the active cache state to the GUI.

Phase 4: UI Refactoring

Focus: Update the Files & Media panel and event handlers.

• Task 4.1: Refactor the Files & Media panel in gui_2.py from a list to an ImGui table displaying the files, their checkboxes (Auto-Aggregate, Force Full), and the Cached indicator dot.
• Task 4.2: Implement handlers in _process_pending_gui_tasks to receive cache state updates and render the indicator dots.
• Task 4.3: Wire the table checkboxes to update the in-memory models and trigger project saves (_save_active_project()).

Phase 5: Testing & Verification

Focus: Ensure stability and adherence to the architecture.

• Task 5.1: Write unit tests verifying configuration parsing, flag-respecting context aggregation, and cache tracking.
• Task 5.2: Perform a manual UI walkthrough to confirm the table displays correctly, checkboxes toggle state, and cache indicators light up when the Gemini API responds.