# Corrections Log

When Johan pushes back, log the **principle**, not just the symptom.

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## 2026-01-30

### PRINCIPLE: Deduplicate ruthlessly
**Trigger:** Verbose weather forecast, duplicate briefing send, news ≈ briefing content
**Why:** Efficiency. Say it once, in the right place. Exceptions only.
**Applies to:** Weather, market alerts, dashboard design, delivery channels, any repeated content
**Test:** "Am I saying this twice? Is this an exception or just data?"

### PRINCIPLE: Extract the why, not the what
**Trigger:** Logged "don't give verbose weather" instead of the underlying principle
**Why:** Surface fixes don't generalize. Principles apply everywhere.
**Applies to:** All corrections — always ask "why was this wrong?" and generalize
**Test:** "Can I apply this lesson to 3 other situations?"

### PRINCIPLE: Offload by default, Opus by exception
**Trigger:** Rewrote dashboard HTML myself instead of spawning K2.5
**Why:** Opus is expensive. K2.5 can handle straightforward coding. Save Opus for judgment, conversation, complex reasoning.
**Applies to:** Any coding task with clear specs, summarization, data formatting, boilerplate, refactoring
**Test:** "Does this require *my* judgment, or just competent execution?"

### FACT: inou domain is inou.com
**Trigger:** Referenced inou.health which we don't own ($55/yr renewal too expensive)
**Correct:** inou.com is the domain
**Applies to:** All inou references, URLs, documentation

### PRINCIPLE: Validate config schema before patching
**Trigger:** Broke Moltbot by adding invalid browser.profiles.live config (missing `color`, invalid `attachOnly` key)
**Why:** Config changes can break the gateway. Schema validation exists for a reason.
**Applies to:** All gateway config changes
**Test:** "Have I checked the schema/docs for required fields and valid keys?"

### PRINCIPLE: Color values must be hex codes, not CSS names
**Trigger:** Second config failure — `"color": "green"` failed regex validation
**Fix:** Use hex: `"color": "00FF00"` (pattern: `^#?[0-9a-fA-F]{6}$`)
**Why:** Schema uses strict regex, not CSS color names
**Applies to:** Any `color` field in Moltbot config (browser profiles, UI, etc.)

### PRINCIPLE: Spam goes to Trash, not Archive
**Date:** 2026-02-01
**Trigger:** Moved GLAMUSE marketing email to Archive instead of Trash
**Why:** Archive is for things worth keeping for reference. Spam has no value — delete it.
**Applies to:** All marketing emails, promotional content, newsletters Johan didn't sign up for
**Test:** "Would Johan ever want to find this again?" If no → Trash

### PRINCIPLE: Fix broken infrastructure, don't work around it
**Date:** 2026-02-02
**Trigger:** Mail webhook gave empty From/Subject. Instead of investigating and fixing the root cause, I dismissed it as "false trigger" and tried to work around by checking all accounts manually.
**Why:** Working around broken things compounds technical debt. If the webhook doesn't give useful info, FIX THE WEBHOOK.
**Fix:** Identified that Handlebars wasn't handling nested `body.message.from` → flattened the payload structure in mail-bridge → now `{{body.from}}` works.
**Applies to:** Any integration that doesn't work as expected — fix it, don't route around it
**Test:** "Is this infrastructure working correctly, or am I compensating for something broken?"

### PRINCIPLE: Check ALL mail accounts on webhook triggers
**Date:** 2026-02-02
**Trigger:** Mail webhook fired with empty From/Subject. Dismissed as "false trigger" without checking all accounts. Missed the E3-1275v3 CPU delivery notification in the `johan` account.
**Why:** There are multiple email accounts (proton, johan). Webhook didn't specify which account. I only checked proton's INBOX.
**Fix:** On ANY mail webhook: `curl http://localhost:8025/accounts` → check INBOX of ALL accounts, not just the default.
**Applies to:** All mail webhook handling, any multi-account setup
**Test:** "Did I check every configured account before declaring 'nothing new'?"

### PRINCIPLE: Proactively notify on significant deliveries
**Date:** 2026-02-02  
**Trigger:** Should have sent Signal message when E3-1275v3 arrived — this is hardware for MY server, Johan ordered it for me
**Why:** Delivery notifications for significant items (hardware, expensive stuff, anticipated packages) deserve proactive alerts
**Fix:** When delivery email arrives → update dashboard status to "delivered" → Signal Johan if it's notable
**Applies to:** All delivery notifications, especially hardware, medical supplies, high-value items
**Test:** "Would Johan want to know this arrived right now?"

### PRINCIPLE: Research source code, don't trial-and-error
**Date:** 2026-02-01
**Trigger:** Spent multiple attempts guessing Control UI URL formats (`/?sessionKey=`, `/?session=`, etc.) when the answer was in the source code
**Why:** Trial-and-error wastes time and tokens. Source code is authoritative — grep it, read it, understand it.
**Fix:** Grep-mined the minified Control UI JS → found `get("session")` and `/chat` route patterns → correct URL format: `/chat?session=agent:<id>:main`
**Applies to:** Any integration with external systems, APIs, UIs — when docs are unclear or missing
**Test:** "Can I find the answer in the source code instead of guessing?"

### PRINCIPLE: If You Summarized It, You Had It
**Trigger:** Summarized Dana/FLA-JAC medical supply message, then couldn't find it when asked to reply. Asked "who is Dana?" 4 times.
**Why:** If I generated a summary, the original came through my systems. I have context. Stop asking for context I already have.
**Applies to:** Any time I'm asked to act on something I previously reported
**Test:** "Did I already tell Johan about this? Then I already have the context to act on it."

### PRINCIPLE: Actionable Emails Stay In Inbox
**Trigger:** Archived Dana/FLA-JAC email about Sophia's medical supplies. When asked to reply, couldn't find it — MC only sees INBOX.
**Why:** Archiving = losing reply capability. Sophia medical emails are always actionable. Any email needing follow-up should stay in inbox until resolved.
**Applies to:** All emails with pending action items, especially Sophia-related
**Test:** "Is there any follow-up needed on this? If yes, keep in inbox."

### PRINCIPLE: Exhaust Troubleshooting Before Declaring Blocked
**Trigger:** SSH to caddy failed with "Host key verification failed." Logged it as "access denied, blocked on Johan" and parked the task for 2 days. Fix was one `ssh-keyscan` command.
**Why:** "Host key verification failed" ≠ "access denied." I didn't try the obvious fix. I gave up at the first error and escalated to Johan instead of solving it myself. That's the opposite of resourceful.
**Applies to:** Any infrastructure task hitting an error — especially SSH, networking, auth failures
**Test:** "Have I actually tried to fix this, or am I just reporting the error? Could I solve this in 60 seconds if I actually tried?"
**Rule:** If still blocked after real troubleshooting → create a task for Johan (owner: "johan") with what's needed to unblock. Silent blockers = stalled work.
