Add one-time nudge when assistant commits to edit intent without editing files

tests/test_state_runtime.py

@@ -664,3 +664,13 @@ def test_diagnosis_confidence_weak_without_file_evidence(tmp_path: Path) -> None
     }
     confidence = state_runtime.classify_diagnosis_target_confidence(runner, diagnosis, failure_evidence=None)
     assert confidence == "weak"
+
+def test_response_commits_to_code_edit_detects_concrete_intent() -> None:
+    assert state_runtime.response_commits_to_code_edit("I'll update x.py to handle empty values.")
+    assert state_runtime.response_commits_to_code_edit("The fix is to add this handler to the registry.")
+
+
+def test_response_commits_to_code_edit_ignores_suggestions_or_non_edits() -> None:
+    assert not state_runtime.response_commits_to_code_edit("One possible fix would be to adjust the parser.")
+    assert not state_runtime.response_commits_to_code_edit("You could update the default value.")
+    assert not state_runtime.response_commits_to_code_edit("No code changes are needed.")

villani_code/state.py

@@ -528,6 +528,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._patch_sanity_retry_pending = False
         self._first_attempt_write_lock_active = False
         self._first_attempt_locked_target = ""
+        self._edit_intent_nudge_used = False
         self._context_governance = ContextGovernanceManager(self.repo)
         self._planning_read_only = False
         self._runtime_mode: Literal["execution", "planning"] = "execution"
@@ -1329,6 +1330,31 @@ def _budget_reason(
                     self.event_callback({"type": "benchmark_scope_reminder_injected", "task_id": self.benchmark_config.task_id, "reason": "no_meaningful_edit"})
                     messages.append({"role": "user", "content": [{"type": "text", "text": reminder}]})
                     continue
+                if (
+                    not self._planning_read_only
+                    and not self._edit_intent_nudge_used
+                    and self._response_commits_to_code_edit(
+                        " ".join(
+                            block.get("text", "")
+                            for block in response.get("content", [])
+                            if isinstance(block, dict) and block.get("type") == "text"
+                        )
+                    )
+                ):
+                    self._edit_intent_nudge_used = True
+                    messages.append(
+                        {
+                            "role": "user",
+                            "content": [
+                                {
+                                    "type": "text",
+                                    "text": "You described a concrete code change, but no file was modified. Apply the minimal edit now, then verify if possible.",
+                                }
+                            ],
+                        }
+                    )
+                    self.event_callback({"type": "edit_intent_without_edit_nudged"})
+                    continue
                 reason = _budget_reason(completed=True)
                 if reason:
                     return _finish_bounded(response, reason, reason == "completed")
@@ -1770,6 +1796,11 @@ def _is_no_progress_response(self, response: dict[str, Any]) -> bool:
 
         return state_runtime.is_no_progress_response(response)
 
+    def _response_commits_to_code_edit(self, text: str) -> bool:
+        from villani_code import state_runtime
+
+        return state_runtime.response_commits_to_code_edit(text)
+
     def _save_session_snapshot(self, messages: list[dict[str, Any]]) -> None:
         from villani_code import state_runtime
 

villani_code/state_runtime.py

@@ -1130,6 +1130,28 @@ def is_no_progress_response(response: dict[str, Any]) -> bool:
     return len(text) <= 2
 
 
+def response_commits_to_code_edit(text: str) -> bool:
+    normalized = " ".join(str(text or "").lower().split())
+    if not normalized:
+        return False
+    if any(
+        phrase in normalized
+        for phrase in (
+            "one possible fix would be",
+            "you could update",
+            "i recommend changing",
+            "no code changes are needed",
+        )
+    ):
+        return False
+    edit_verbs = r"(update|modify|change|patch|edit|fix|add)"
+    if re.search(rf"\bi(?:'ll| will| need to)\s+{edit_verbs}\b", normalized):
+        return True
+    if re.search(rf"\bthe fix is to\s+{edit_verbs}\b", normalized):
+        return True
+    return False
+
+
 def save_session_snapshot(runner: Any, messages: list[dict[str, Any]]) -> None:
     if getattr(runner, "_mission_state", None) is not None and getattr(runner, "_mission_dir", None) is not None:
         mission_dir = runner._mission_dir