fix: name the memory setting in ignored-input notes and keep conversions honest

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

frontend/src/lib/components/flows/agentFormFields.test.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
-import { AI_AGENT_SCHEMA, memoryPropertyFor } from './flowInfers'
+import { AI_AGENT_SCHEMA, memoryOptionLabel, memoryPropertyFor } from './flowInfers'
 import {
 	AGENT_FIELD_BY_KEY,
 	AGENT_FIELDS,
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ describe('historyInputApplies', () => {
 		expect(agentMemoryMode({ kind: 'window', context_length: 10 })).toBe('managed')
 		expect(agentMemoryMode({ kind: 'manual', messages: [] })).toBe('legacy')
 		expect(agentMemoryMode({ kind: 'auto', context_length: 4, memory_id: 'x' })).toBe('legacy')
+		expect(agentMemoryMode({ kind: 'auto' })).toBe('off')
 		expect(historyInputApplies('memory_id', 'managed')).toBe(true)
 		expect(historyInputApplies('previous_messages', 'managed')).toBe(false)
 		expect(historyInputApplies('memory_id', 'off')).toBe(false)
@@ -104,6 +105,16 @@ describe('historyInputApplies', () => {
 	})
 })
 
+describe('memoryOptionLabel', () => {
+	// The ignored-input note names the setting by the same label its own button carries.
+	it('names each memory option the way the field renders it', () => {
+		expect(memoryOptionLabel({ kind: 'manual', messages: [] })).toBe('Previous messages (legacy)')
+		expect(memoryOptionLabel({ kind: 'auto', context_length: 4 })).toBe('On (legacy)')
+		expect(memoryOptionLabel({ kind: 'window', context_length: 10 })).toBe('On')
+		expect(memoryOptionLabel(undefined)).toBeUndefined()
+	})
+})
+
 describe('memoryPropertyFor', () => {
 	const property = schemaProperties.memory
 	const kinds = (value: unknown) =>

frontend/src/lib/components/flows/agentFormFields.ts

@@ -45,9 +45,12 @@ export function keepsManagedMemory(memory: any): boolean {
 
 export type AgentMemoryMode = 'legacy' | 'managed' | 'off'
 
-/** Which shape the step's memory holds: an older `auto`/`manual` setting, or the current one. */
+/** Which shape a run reads this memory as: an older `auto`/`manual` setting, or the current one. */
 export function agentMemoryMode(memory: any): AgentMemoryMode {
-	if (memory?.kind === 'auto' || memory?.kind === 'manual') return 'legacy'
+	if (memory?.kind === 'manual') return 'legacy'
+	// The worker reads an `auto` that keeps no messages as off, history inputs included, so the form
+	// offers what that run would read.
+	if (memory?.kind === 'auto') return memory.context_length ? 'legacy' : 'off'
 	return keepsManagedMemory(memory) ? 'managed' : 'off'
 }
 
@@ -66,7 +69,7 @@ export function historyInputApplies(
 /** A memory setting in words, for a linked agent's summary. */
 export function describeMemoryPolicy(memory: any): string {
 	if (keepsManagedMemory(memory)) return `Last ${memory.context_length} messages`
-	if (memory?.kind === 'manual') return 'Off, sends a fixed list of messages'
+	if (memory?.kind === 'manual') return 'Off, sends previous messages saved with the agent'
 	return 'Off'
 }
 

frontend/src/lib/components/flows/content/AgentMemoryNotes.svelte

@@ -42,7 +42,10 @@
 	// state, so switching to that setting is the only choice.
 	let legacyEquivalent = $derived(memory?.kind === 'auto' && !legacyMemoryId)
 
+	// The older setting never read the step's own memory id, so a conversion that promises the same
+	// behaviour, or the run's id, drops it rather than bringing it to life. Off keeps ignoring it.
 	function switchToEquivalent() {
+		if (on) delete args.memory_id
 		args.memory = {
 			type: 'static',
 			value: on ? { kind: 'window', context_length: memory?.context_length } : { kind: 'off' }
@@ -52,6 +55,8 @@
 	function convertLegacyMemoryId(keepAsMemoryId: boolean) {
 		if (keepAsMemoryId && legacyMemoryId) {
 			args.memory_id = { type: 'static', value: legacyMemoryId }
+		} else {
+			delete args.memory_id
 		}
 		args.memory = {
 			type: 'static',
@@ -74,8 +79,8 @@
 	<Alert type="info" title="Older memory setting" class="mt-2">
 		<div class="flex flex-col gap-2">
 			<span>
-				An earlier version of the editor saved a fixed list of messages here, which this agent still
-				sends.
+				An earlier version of the editor saved these previous messages inside the memory setting,
+				and this agent still sends them.
 			</span>
 			{#if historyOnStep}
 				<div class="flex">

frontend/src/lib/components/flows/content/AiAgentStepInputs.svelte

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
 	} from '../agentFormFields'
 	import AgentToolRoster from './AgentToolRoster.svelte'
 	import AgentMemoryNotes from './AgentMemoryNotes.svelte'
-	import { memoryPropertyFor } from '../flowInfers'
+	import { memoryOptionLabel, memoryPropertyFor } from '../flowInfers'
 
 	interface Props {
 		schema: Schema | { properties?: Record<string, any> }
@@ -241,6 +241,22 @@
 		'memory' in schemaProperties &&
 			(args?.memory?.type === 'javascript' || args?.memory?.type === 'ai')
 	)
+	// Names the legacy value the way the memory field's own button does, reading it wherever the mode
+	// came from, so the row and the setting it points at cannot name it differently.
+	let legacyMemoryNote = $derived.by(() => {
+		const onThisForm = 'memory' in schemaProperties
+		const label = memoryOptionLabel(
+			onThisForm
+				? args?.memory?.type === 'static'
+					? args.memory.value
+					: undefined
+				: linkedMemory?.memory
+		)
+		return onThisForm
+			? `Ignored while memory is set to ${label}.`
+			: `Ignored while the agent's memory is set to ${label}.`
+	})
+
 	let memoryIdOffered = $derived(
 		(memoryMode === 'managed' || memoryIsExpression) &&
 			scopedFields.some((spec) => spec.key === 'memory_id')
@@ -582,7 +598,7 @@
 											{#if isHistoryKey(spec.key) && !historyInputApplies(spec.key, memoryMode)}
 												<p class="mt-1 text-2xs text-hint">
 													{memoryMode === 'legacy'
-														? 'Not read by the older memory setting on this step.'
+														? legacyMemoryNote
 														: `Ignored while managed memory is ${memoryMode === 'managed' ? 'on' : 'off'}.`}
 												</p>
 											{/if}

frontend/src/lib/components/flows/flowInfers.ts

@@ -6,6 +6,19 @@ import type { FlowModule, InputTransform } from '$lib/gen'
 import { AGENT_FLOW_LOCAL_KEYS } from './agentResourceUtils'
 import { AGENT_HISTORY_KEYS } from './agentFormFields'
 
+/** Display names for the memory field's options, so anything else naming the setting an author
+ *  picked cannot drift from the button they see. */
+export const MEMORY_OPTION_LABELS: Record<string, string> = {
+	off: 'Off',
+	window: 'On',
+	auto: 'On (legacy)',
+	manual: 'Previous messages (legacy)'
+}
+
+export function memoryOptionLabel(memory: any): string | undefined {
+	return memory?.kind ? MEMORY_OPTION_LABELS[memory.kind] : undefined
+}
+
 export const AI_AGENT_SCHEMA: Schema = {
 	$schema: 'https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema',
 	properties: {
@@ -42,12 +55,7 @@ export const AI_AGENT_SCHEMA: Schema = {
 			type: 'object',
 			description:
 				'Windmill stores the conversation and sends its last messages with each request.',
-			enumLabels: {
-				off: 'Off',
-				window: 'On',
-				auto: 'On (legacy)',
-				manual: 'Previous messages (legacy)'
-			},
+			enumLabels: MEMORY_OPTION_LABELS,
 			oneOf: [
 				{
 					type: 'object',