remove maxSteps and ResetsCounter entirely

The step budget mechanism is gone. Agents run until they finish,
are interrupted by the user, or (for sub-agents) hit the timeout.

No replacement. The human is the kill switch.

cmd/olliesrv/internal/agent/agent_config.go

@@ -30,8 +30,6 @@ type AgentConfig struct {
 	Tools       *bool  `json:"tools,omitempty"`
 
 	AutoLoad []string `json:"autoLoad,omitempty"`
-	// MaxSteps caps the number of tool-call rounds per turn. 0 means unlimited.
-	MaxSteps        int    `json:"maxSteps,omitempty"`
 	CompactionModel string `json:"compactionModel,omitempty"`
 	// SystemPrompt overrides the embedded system prompt with a file path.
 	SystemPrompt string `json:"systemPrompt,omitempty"`

cmd/olliesrv/internal/agent/loop.go

@@ -179,34 +179,6 @@ func (ag *Agent) run(ctx context.Context) error {
 				return abort
 			}
 
-		// Reset step counter when an action-oriented tool succeeds.
-		if rt.ToolMeta != nil {
-			for _, r := range results {
-				if !r.IsError && rt.ToolMeta[r.Name].ResetsCounter {
-					step = 0
-					break
-				}
-			}
-		}
-
-		// Step budget warnings.
-		if rt.MaxSteps > 0 {
-			halfBudget := rt.MaxSteps / 2
-			if step == halfBudget {
-				h.update(backend.Message{
-					Role:    "user",
-					Content: fmt.Sprintf("<system-step-budget-warning>\nYou have used %d/%d research steps without taking action. Consider making progress — write code, edit files, or run commands. Action tools reset this counter.\n</system-step-budget-warning>", step, rt.MaxSteps),
-				}, nil)
-			} else if step >= rt.MaxSteps-1 {
-				ag.emit(Event{Role: "maxsteps", Content: fmt.Sprintf("%d", step+1)})
-				h.update(backend.Message{
-					Role:    "user",
-					Content: fmt.Sprintf("<system-step-budget-stop>\nStep budget exhausted (%d/%d steps used). Stop calling tools. Summarize what you have done and what remains, then stop.\n</system-step-budget-stop>", step+1, rt.MaxSteps),
-				}, nil)
-				break
-			}
-		}
-
 			_, compactErr := ag.autoCompact(ctx)
 			if compactErr != nil {
 				ag.emit(Event{Role: "error", Content: compactErr.Error()})

cmd/olliesrv/internal/agent/runtime.go

@@ -145,7 +145,6 @@ type Runtime struct {
 	ToolMeta        map[string]protocol.ToolInfo
 	Exec            toolExecutor
 	GenParams       backend.GenerationParams
-	MaxSteps        int
 	CompactionModel string
 	UserPrompt      string // resolved user prompts, prepended to each turn's input
 	Messages        []string
@@ -179,7 +178,6 @@ func BuildRuntime(cfg *AgentConfig, srv *toolclient.ToolsrvConn, cwd string, env
 	var agentPrompt string
 	var userPrompt string
 	var genParams backend.GenerationParams
-	var maxSteps int
 	if cfg != nil {
 		if resolved, err := resolvePrompt(cfg.Prompt, cwd, env); err != nil {
 			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "resolve prompt: %v\n", err)
@@ -192,7 +190,6 @@ func BuildRuntime(cfg *AgentConfig, srv *toolclient.ToolsrvConn, cwd string, env
 			userPrompt = resolved
 		}
 		genParams = cfg.GenerationParams
-		maxSteps = cfg.MaxSteps
 	}
 	genParams.CWD = cwd
 
@@ -235,7 +232,6 @@ func BuildRuntime(cfg *AgentConfig, srv *toolclient.ToolsrvConn, cwd string, env
 		Exec:            exec,
 		Preamble:        preamble,
 		GenParams:       genParams,
-		MaxSteps:        maxSteps,
 		CompactionModel: compactionModel,
 		UserPrompt:      userPrompt,
 		Messages:        messages,

data/agents/default.json

@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
     "lsp_rename",
     "lsp_completion"
   ],
-  "maxSteps": 25,
   "temperature": 0.5,
   "maxTokens": 16384
 }

data/agents/driver.json

@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@
   ],
   "backend": "openrouter",
   "model": "deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash",
-  "maxSteps": 25,
   "temperature": 0.4,
   "maxTokens": 16384
 }

data/agents/explorer.json

@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
     "code_rewrite",
     "code_dependencies"
   ],
-  "maxSteps": 40,
   "temperature": 0.3,
   "maxTokens": 16384
 }

data/agents/librarian.json

@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
     "memory_recall",
     "memory_remember"
   ],
-  "maxSteps": 20,
   "temperature": 0.3,
   "maxTokens": 16384
 }

data/agents/navigator.json

@@ -28,6 +28,5 @@
     "code_dependencies"
   ],
   "temperature": 0.3,
-  "maxTokens": 8192,
-  "maxSteps": 30
+  "maxTokens": 8192
 }

data/agents/observer.json

@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
     "lsp_rename",
     "lsp_completion"
   ],
-  "maxSteps": 5,
   "temperature": 0.3,
   "maxTokens": 4096
 }

data/agents/taskmanager.json

@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
     "memory_recall",
     "memory_remember"
   ],
-  "maxSteps": 20,
   "temperature": 0.3,
   "maxTokens": 8192
 }

data/agents/theo.json

@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
     "file_grep",
     "file_write"
   ],
-  "maxSteps": 30,
   "temperature": 0.3,
   "maxTokens": 8192
 }

data/tools/file_edit.meta

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 {
   "description": "Replace text in a file. Has fuzzy matching (whitespace/indent flexible).",
   "outputFormat": "diff",
-  "resetsCounter": true,
   "prompt": "## file_edit\n\nReplace text in a file. Has fuzzy matching (whitespace/indent flexible).\n\n**Args**: `path`, `old_string`, `new_string` (required); `replace_all` (optional)\n\n```\nfile_edit(path=\"<ABSOLUTE_PATH_FROM_PWD>\", old_string=\"old text\", new_string=\"new text\")\nfile_edit(path=\"<ABSOLUTE_PATH_FROM_PWD>\", old_string=\"old text\", new_string=\"new text\", replace_all=\"true\")\n```\n\n**Constraints**: Absolute paths only. Errors if `old_string` matches multiple locations \u2014 add surrounding context to disambiguate, or use `replace_all=true`.",
   "args": {
     "type": "object",

data/tools/file_write.meta

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 {
   "description": "Create or overwrite a file. Produces a unified diff.",
   "outputFormat": "diff",
-  "resetsCounter": true,
   "prompt": "## file_write\n\nCreate or overwrite a file. Produces a unified diff.\n\n**Args**: `[path, content]`\n\n```\nfile_write(path=\"<ABSOLUTE_PATH_FROM_PWD>\", content=\"file content here\")\n```\n\n**Constraints**: Absolute paths only. Parent directory must exist.",
   "args": {
     "type": "object",

data/tools/shell.meta

@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 {
   "description": "Execute a single bash command in a sandboxed environment.",
-  "resetsCounter": true,
   "prompt": "Execute a single bash command in a sandboxed environment.\n\nUsage: {\"cmd\": \"your command here\"}\n\nSandbox prevents dangerous operations. Use for computation, builds, scripting.\ntimeout applies to each call (default: 30s). A non-zero exit is an error.",
   "args": {
     "type": "object",

toolsrv/metadata/meta.go

@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ type MetaFile struct {
 	Scope         string          `json:"scope,omitempty"`
 	OutputFormat  string          `json:"outputFormat,omitempty"`
 	Cmd           string          `json:"cmd,omitempty"`
-	ResetsCounter bool            `json:"resetsCounter,omitempty"`
 	Variants      []Variant       `json:"variants,omitempty"`
 }
 
@@ -35,7 +34,6 @@ type Variant struct {
 	Scope         string          `json:"scope,omitempty"`
 	OutputFormat  string          `json:"outputFormat,omitempty"`
 	Cmd           string          `json:"cmd,omitempty"`
-	ResetsCounter bool            `json:"resetsCounter,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // LoadMetaFile reads and parses a .meta sidecar file for the given tool name.
@@ -86,9 +84,6 @@ func (m *MetaFile) Resolve() *MetaFile {
 			if v.Scope != "" {
 				resolved.Scope = v.Scope
 			}
-			if v.ResetsCounter {
-				resolved.ResetsCounter = true
-			}
 			if v.Cmd != "" {
 				resolved.Cmd = v.Cmd
 			}
@@ -184,7 +179,6 @@ func ToolInfoFromMeta(name string, m *MetaFile) protocol.ToolInfo {
 		Tier:          tier,
 		Scope:         resolved.Scope,
 		OutputFormat:  resolved.OutputFormat,
-		ResetsCounter: resolved.ResetsCounter,
 	}
 }
 

toolsrv/protocol/types.go

@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ type ToolInfo struct {
 	Tier         string
 	Scope        string
 	OutputFormat string
-	ResetsCounter bool
 }
 
 // ToolResult is the structured result from a tool execution.