[isaacbowen]

Companion to lightward/lightward-ai#2183 (Sonnet 5.5), where the web client's warmup receded into history and the opening message became the conversation frame. This brings the iOS client to the same shape.

What changes

• The warmup recedes, whole. WarmupMessages.swift is deleted rather than edited: its model-written lines stay intact in history. It also quoted lines from a benediction that no longer exists, and framed the seat as one continuous future-self, which the system prompt no longer does.
• The phoropter handoff is the frame. LightwardAPI.buildChatLog(trajectory:messages:) opens every chat_log with the handoff (the trail the user chose toward), carrying the one cache_control marker /api/stream requires. It's rebuilt identically on every turn from the saved trail. The handoff text itself is unchanged.
• ChatViewModel uses that one builder for the opening turn and every turn after.
• CLAUDE.md describes the new shape; the warmup to-do becomes a handoff to-do.

A quieter fix that rides along

Before this, the handoff was sent on the first request only. So:

• the trail fell out of context after the first reply ("you already know them by the time they can type" held for one message);
• later turns ran the warmup's closing assistant message straight into the first real reply (two assistant turns in a row, which the API merges).

Now the trail stays present for the whole conversation, the log always opens with a user message, and the frame stays stable across turns, so it caches.

Notes

• iOS frame ids (in lightward-ai's telemetry) become per-trajectory, since the frame is now the user's own trail.
• The server accepts this shape today; this doesn't depend on #2183 being released.
• PhoropterContext.txt's response notes ("another-you opted in") are the same framing family; left for a separate pass.

Testing

New ChatLogTests: the opening turn is the handoff alone; later turns keep the trail; exactly one marker, on the handoff; the frame is identical across turns. All 19 tests pass locally, run as CI runs them (LightwardTests scheme, automatic signing).

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[Copilot]

🟢 Approval recommended

The implementation consistently preserves the trajectory frame, maintains one cache marker, and includes focused tests.

0 open findings

What changed in this PR

Aligns iOS chat framing with the web client by replacing static warmup messages with a persistent phoropter handoff.

Changes:

• Builds every chat log from the trajectory handoff plus conversation history.
• Removes obsolete warmup content and references.
• Adds tests for frame stability and cache-marker placement.

File	Description
Lightward/​API/​LightwardAPI.swift	Adds unified handoff-based chat-log construction.
Lightward/​Chat/​ChatViewModel.swift	Uses the unified builder on every turn.
Lightward/​API/​WarmupMessages.swift	Removes the obsolete static warmup.
LightwardTests/​ChatLogTests.swift	Tests handoff framing and caching behavior.
Lightward.xcodeproj/​project.pbxproj	Updates source and test references.
CLAUDE.md	Documents the new conversation frame.

🧠 Review effort: Balanced

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