`[2026-07-06]` **Sindra rewritten onto a #347 authored first-message + first-message-preset AUTO-SEED SHIPPED (`v0.19.8`).** Operator "rewrite Sindra" now that #347 first-messages work. Her card had a `**Startup:**` block (a pre-#347 workaround: "introduce yourself + ask for Intensity/Mood/Willingness" with a verbatim scripted greeting) — precisely what #347 replaces. Rewrite, all NON-destructive: **(1)** lifted her scripted opening into a #347 first-message (punctuation-fixed); **(2) PATCHed her live definition** — `PATCH /agents/ratatoskr:sindra` (body `ConsumerAgentPatchRequest` = system_prompt+role, extra=forbid; keeps OCEAN/persona/memory) removing the Startup block -> a 1-line `**Opening:**` fallback + reworded the axes-persist line (25686->25449 chars, verified Startup gone); **(3) codified auto-seed:** NEW module `src/ratatoskr/first_message.py` (`FIRST_MESSAGE_PRESETS` dict {agent_id->text} + `seed_preset_first_message` best-effort helper) wired into ALL 3 session-create paths — cli `_amain` (`--send --new`), tui `_resolve_then_run` (bare `--new`), web `_create_session_endpoint` (POST /api/sessions) — so every new Sindra session opens with her greeting. **Best-effort (INV-001: swallows AuthoredHistoryUnavailable/SessionApiFailed/httpx.HTTPError -> NEVER blocks create)**; per-content idempotency key (`ratatoskr-preset-`+sha256[:12]). Contract `docs/contracts/first_message.contract.md` (module-scoped: `module:`+`purpose:`+`touches:` required, NOT `target_module:`) + TDD (9 unit + 1 web wire-in; **the 3 existing sindra bind tests needed a history-endpoint mock** since creating a preset agent now auto-seeds). Suite **612 green**, ruff+mypy clean. **LIVE-PROVEN generation-free**: create sindra session -> auto-seed -> read-back seq-0 assistant greeting (409 chars). Sindra's greeting now lives canonically in the preset registry (repo); her server card no longer carries it. Patch bump (single-commit feature, no downstream coordination). **FOOT-GUN: sindra requires `end_user_id` on session-create (422 `end_user_id_required`) — all real paths pass it from env (RATATOSKR_END_USER_ID) / web server config.** **Then the full quality gate (operator-directed, folded into v0.19.8): heid-code-review (unanimous ZERO implementation drift; 2 test-only fixups — INV-004 verification-claim made explicit re the global rglob test + an exactly-one-POST assertion) + heid-bug-hunt (3/3 convergence caught what the conformance lens structurally COULDN'T — the code matched the contract's NARROW 3-type ERROR_ROUTING, but INV-001's "NEVER raises" is BROADER). HARDENED: broad `except Exception` → None (re-raise `asyncio.CancelledError`, itself a BaseException), soft-guard PREs (return None, NOT assert — a wiring bug can't crash the create path it's wired into), and `asyncio.wait_for(_SEED_TIMEOUT_S=10s)` bounding the seed write (the CLI/TUI clients run read=None for SSE → a stalled /history would otherwise block create forever). Suite 615 green. LESSON: code-matches-ERROR_ROUTING ≠ honors-broad-INV-001 — heid-code-review confirms contract-conformance, heid-bug-hunt catches robustness gaps the contract's own narrow clauses miss; run both.**
