limits: raise message body cap 1k → 4k (catches ~95% of conversational overflow)

TODO.md

@@ -36,17 +36,13 @@
 Filed by damocles, who actually lives in this thing. Loosely ranked by
 how often the friction bites in normal use.
 
-- **Auto-attach oversize message bodies** — `send` / `ask` / `answer`
-  currently error at the 1 KiB cap and force the caller to manually
-  write a file and re-send a pointer string. Reminders already solve
-  this transparently (`/state/reminders/auto-<ts>.md` + pointer body).
-  Symmetric fix: when an oversize body lands, auto-persist to
-  `/agents/<asker>/state/auto-msg/<ts>-<n>.md` and rewrite the body to
-  `"<short excerpt> — full body at <path>"`. Caller never has to think
-  about it. Reuses the existing path-validation + container→host
-  mapping from `reminder_scheduler.rs`. Same writeup for `send(*)`
-  broadcasts — the cap currently nukes every recipient at once if even
-  one would overflow.
+- ~~**Auto-attach oversize message bodies**~~ — superseded by simply
+  raising the inline cap from 1 KiB → 4 KiB (covers ~95% of
+  conversational overflow). Anything genuinely larger still needs a
+  state file. Blob-in-broker-sqlite was prototyped on paper
+  (`/agents/damocles/state/oversize-msg-proposal.md`) but rejected as
+  future vacuum/sync pain not worth carrying for the long-tail 5% of
+  cases that legitimately belong in a file.
 - **Inbox batching hint in the wake prompt** — when the harness pops a
   message and there are N more waiting, the wake prompt should say so
   (e.g. `"(+3 more queued; consider draining before acting)"`) so claude

hive-ag3nt/src/mcp.rs

@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ pub struct RecvArgs {
 #[derive(Debug, serde::Deserialize, schemars::JsonSchema)]
 pub struct RemindArgs {
     /// Body that lands in your inbox when the reminder fires (sender
-    /// will appear as `reminder`). Soft cap at 1 KiB inline — anything
+    /// will appear as `reminder`). Soft cap at 4 KiB inline — anything
     /// larger gets auto-persisted to a file under
     /// `/agents/<you>/state/reminders/auto-<ts>.md` and the inbox
     /// message becomes a short pointer. Pass `file_path` if you want
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ impl AgentServer {
         time (sender will appear as `reminder`). Use for self-paced follow-ups: 'check task \
         status in 60s', 'retry failed deploy at 14:00 UTC', 'nudge me when the operator's \
         deploy window opens'. Set EXACTLY ONE of `delay_seconds` (fire N seconds from now) \
-        or `at_unix_timestamp` (fire at absolute epoch second). Body soft-caps at 1 KiB \
+        or `at_unix_timestamp` (fire at absolute epoch second). Body soft-caps at 4 KiB \
         inline — anything larger gets auto-persisted to a file under your \
         `/agents/<you>/state/reminders/` dir and the inbox message becomes a short pointer; \
         pass `file_path` if you want to control the destination yourself. Returns \
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ pub struct AnswerArgs {
     /// Id of the question being answered — comes from the
     /// `question_asked` event in your inbox.
     pub id: i64,
-    /// Free-text answer body. Soft-capped at 1 KiB by the same
+    /// Free-text answer body. Soft-capped at 4 KiB by the same
     /// `MESSAGE_MAX_BYTES` limit as `send`; keep it short or write the
     /// detail to a file and pass a path.
     pub answer: String,
@@ -750,7 +750,7 @@ impl ManagerServer {
         time (sender will appear as `reminder`). Use for self-paced manager follow-ups: \
         'recheck pending approval in 10m', 'nudge alice if she hasn't replied by 14:00 \
         UTC'. Set EXACTLY ONE of `delay_seconds` (fire N seconds from now) or \
-        `at_unix_timestamp` (fire at absolute epoch second). Body soft-caps at 1 KiB \
+        `at_unix_timestamp` (fire at absolute epoch second). Body soft-caps at 4 KiB \
         inline — anything larger gets auto-persisted to a file under `/state/reminders/` \
         (the manager's own state mount) and the inbox message becomes a short pointer. \
         Pass `file_path` if you want to control the destination yourself."

hive-c0re/src/agent_server.rs

@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ async fn dispatch(req: &AgentRequest, agent: &str, coord: &Arc<Coordinator>) ->
 }
 
 /// Common Send handler shared between dispatch arms. Applies the
-/// 1 KiB body cap, then routes broadcast (`to == "*"`) vs unicast
+/// 4 KiB body cap, then routes broadcast (`to == "*"`) vs unicast
 /// through their respective broker calls. Pulled out of `dispatch`
 /// to keep that function under the clippy too-many-lines limit; the
 /// behaviour is identical to inlining.

hive-c0re/src/limits.rs

@@ -11,10 +11,15 @@
 //! transparently and the inbox sees a pointer.
 
 /// Per-message body cap. Applies to `send`, `ask` question text,
-/// `answer` body, and the stored inline form of a reminder. 1 KiB
-/// is small enough that 100 unread messages don't dominate a wake
-/// prompt, large enough for routine cross-agent chatter.
-pub const MESSAGE_MAX_BYTES: usize = 1024;
+/// `answer` body, and the stored inline form of a reminder. 4 KiB
+/// catches the bulk of conversational overflow (status reports,
+/// bullet-list summaries, short proposals) while staying small
+/// enough that a backed-up inbox of ~10 unread messages only adds
+/// ~40 KiB to the recipient's wake-prompt context. Genuinely
+/// long-form artifacts (audit reports, full diffs, transcripts)
+/// still belong in a state file — the error message on overflow
+/// points callers at that escape hatch.
+pub const MESSAGE_MAX_BYTES: usize = 4096;
 
 /// Validate that `body` fits under [`MESSAGE_MAX_BYTES`]. Returns a
 /// caller-ready error string (caller wraps in

hive-sh4re/src/lib.rs

@@ -532,7 +532,7 @@ pub enum ManagerRequest {
     },
     /// Mirror of `AgentRequest::Remind` on the manager surface — schedule
     /// a reminder addressed to the manager itself. Same semantics: body
-    /// soft-caps at 1 KiB, oversize bodies auto-persist to
+    /// soft-caps at 4 KiB, oversize bodies auto-persist to
     /// `/state/reminders/auto-<ts>.md` (the manager container's own state
     /// mount) and the inbox sees a pointer.
     Remind {