provider-display-timing-bug

name	provider-display-timing-bug
description	**Description:** Use when debugging agents showing wrong or missing provider in the UI, or when modifying agent spawn/roster logic.

Provider Display Timing Bug: Roster Written Before ACP Sets Provider

Description: Use when debugging agents showing wrong or missing provider in the UI, or when modifying agent spawn/roster logic.

The Bug

When an agent spawns, the sequence is:

1. AgentManager.spawn() creates the Agent object
2. Initial roster DB upsert writes agent metadata (including provider field)
3. startAcp() runs — this is where the ACP bridge resolves the actual provider
4. onSessionReady fires after ACP connects

The problem: step 2 writes the roster before step 3 sets agent.provider. So the DB row has provider: null and the UI shows no provider badge.

The Fix (Two Parts)

Part 1: Default from ServerConfig before initial roster write

In AgentManager, before the first roster upsert:

if (!agent.provider && this.config.provider) {
  agent.provider = this.config.provider;
}

Part 2: Re-upsert in onSessionReady after ACP resolves

In the onSessionReady handler (fires after startAcp completes):

this.roster.upsert(agent);  // Now agent.provider is set correctly

Key Insight

Any time you see a timing issue where data is written to DB/UI before an async operation sets the correct value, the pattern is:

1. Set a reasonable default before the first write
2. Re-write after the async operation completes with the real value

Related Files

• packages/server/src/agents/AgentManager.ts — spawn logic, onSessionReady handler
• packages/server/src/adapters/AgentAcpBridge.ts — line ~152 where agent.provider is set in startAcp()
• The roster DB is the source of truth for the web UI's agent cards