miku-discord/AUTONOMOUS_MESSAGE_RESPONSE_FIX.md

Autonomous Message Response Fix

Problem

When Miku's autonomous system decided to respond immediately after someone sent a message, she would sometimes say something general/random instead of responding to what the person said. This happened because the decision engine could return "general" action type even when triggered by a fresh message.

Root Cause

The issue had two parts:

1. The should_take_action() method in autonomous_engine.py didn't distinguish between:

   • Scheduled checks - Running periodically on a timer (appropriate for "general" actions)
   • Message-triggered checks - Running immediately after someone sends a message (should respond to that message)

2. The main bug: _check_and_act() was calling autonomous_tick_v2(), which then called should_take_action() again without the triggered_by_message flag. This caused the decision to be re-evaluated and potentially changed from "join_conversation" to "general".

When the "break silence" condition was met, the flow was:

1. _check_and_act() calls should_take_action(triggered_by_message=True) → returns "join_conversation"
2. Calls autonomous_tick_v2()
3. autonomous_tick_v2() calls should_take_action() again (without flag) → returns "general"
4. Executes general action instead of joining conversation

Solution

Added a triggered_by_message parameter to the decision logic:

Changes Made

1. autonomous_engine.py

• Added triggered_by_message: bool = False parameter to should_take_action()
• Modified the "break silence" decision logic to check this flag
• When triggered_by_message=True and "break silence" condition is met, return "join_conversation" instead of "general"
• This ensures Miku responds to the recent message rather than saying something random

2. autonomous.py

• Updated _check_and_act() to:
  1. Pass triggered_by_message=True when calling should_take_action()
  2. Execute the action directly instead of calling autonomous_tick_v2() (which would check again)
  3. Include rate limiting and error handling
• This prevents the decision from being re-evaluated and potentially changed
• Added documentation explaining the importance of direct execution

Behavior Changes

Before Fix

User: "Hey everyone, how's it going?"
Miku: "I wonder if there are clouds on Mars... 🤔"  # Random general statement

After Fix

User: "Hey everyone, how's it going?"
Miku: "Hey! I'm doing great! How about you? 😊"  # Responds to the message

Technical Details

The decision priority order remains:

1. join_conversation - High conversation momentum
2. engage_user - User activity detected (status change, started activity)
3. join_conversation (FOMO) - Lots of messages without Miku participating
4. general OR join_conversation - Break silence (depends on triggered_by_message flag)
5. share_tweet - Low activity, wants to share content

The key change is in step 4:

• Scheduled check (triggered_by_message=False): Returns "general" - Miku says something random
• Message-triggered check (triggered_by_message=True): Returns "join_conversation" - Miku responds to recent messages

Testing

To verify the fix:

1. Have Miku idle for a while (to meet "break silence" condition)
2. Send a message in the autonomous channel
3. If Miku responds, she should now reply to your message instead of saying something random

Date

December 5, 2025