Allow underscore aliases for spawned agent IDs (#568)

Author: jahooma

common/src/util/agent-id-parsing.ts

@@ -99,3 +99,38 @@ export function parsePublishedAgentId(fullAgentId: string): {
     version,
   }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Normalizes an agent ID for lookup by accepting underscores as aliases for
+ * hyphens in the agent-name segment. Publisher IDs and version strings are
+ * preserved as written.
+ */
+export function normalizeAgentIdForLookup(fullAgentId: string): string {
+  const parts = fullAgentId.split('/')
+  if (parts.length > 2) {
+    return fullAgentId
+  }
+
+  const normalizeNameWithVersion = (agentNameWithVersion: string) => {
+    const versionStart = agentNameWithVersion.indexOf('@')
+    const agentName =
+      versionStart === -1
+        ? agentNameWithVersion
+        : agentNameWithVersion.slice(0, versionStart)
+    const version =
+      versionStart === -1 ? '' : agentNameWithVersion.slice(versionStart)
+
+    return `${agentName.replace(/_/g, '-')}${version}`
+  }
+
+  if (parts.length === 1) {
+    return normalizeNameWithVersion(fullAgentId)
+  }
+
+  const [publisherId, agentNameWithVersion] = parts
+  if (!publisherId || !agentNameWithVersion) {
+    return fullAgentId
+  }
+
+  return `${publisherId}/${normalizeNameWithVersion(agentNameWithVersion)}`
+}

packages/agent-runtime/src/__tests__/spawn-agents-permissions.test.ts

@@ -94,7 +94,10 @@ describe('Spawn Agents Permissions', () => {
           ...options.agentState,
           messageHistory: [assistantMessage('Mock agent response')],
         },
-        output: { type: 'lastMessage', value: [assistantMessage('Mock agent response')] },
+        output: {
+          type: 'lastMessage',
+          value: [assistantMessage('Mock agent response')],
+        },
       }
     })
   })
@@ -189,12 +192,33 @@ describe('Spawn Agents Permissions', () => {
         expect(result).toBe('thinker')
       })
 
+      it('should match underscored agent name to hyphenated spawnable agent', () => {
+        const spawnableAgents = ['thinker', 'reviewer', 'file-picker']
+        const result = getMatchingSpawn(spawnableAgents, 'file_picker')
+        expect(result).toBe('file-picker')
+      })
+
       it('should match simple agent name when spawnable has publisher', () => {
         const spawnableAgents = ['codebuff/thinker@1.0.0', 'reviewer']
         const result = getMatchingSpawn(spawnableAgents, 'thinker')
         expect(result).toBe('codebuff/thinker@1.0.0')
       })
 
+      it('should match underscored agent name when spawnable has publisher and version', () => {
+        const spawnableAgents = ['codebuff/file-picker@1.0.0', 'reviewer']
+        const result = getMatchingSpawn(spawnableAgents, 'file_picker')
+        expect(result).toBe('codebuff/file-picker@1.0.0')
+      })
+
+      it('should match underscored published agent ID to hyphenated spawnable agent', () => {
+        const spawnableAgents = ['codebuff/file-picker@1.0.0']
+        const result = getMatchingSpawn(
+          spawnableAgents,
+          'codebuff/file_picker@1.0.0',
+        )
+        expect(result).toBe('codebuff/file-picker@1.0.0')
+      })
+
       it('should match simple agent name when spawnable has version', () => {
         const spawnableAgents = ['thinker@1.0.0', 'reviewer']
         const result = getMatchingSpawn(spawnableAgents, 'thinker')
@@ -274,6 +298,50 @@ describe('Spawn Agents Permissions', () => {
       expect(mockLoopAgentSteps).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
     })
 
+    it('should allow underscored agent_type when hyphenated agent is spawnable', async () => {
+      const parentAgent = createMockAgent('parent', ['file-picker'])
+      const childAgent = createMockAgent('file-picker')
+      const sessionState = getInitialSessionState(mockFileContext)
+      const toolCall = createSpawnToolCall('file_picker')
+
+      const { output } = await handleSpawnAgents({
+        ...handleSpawnAgentsBaseParams,
+        agentState: sessionState.mainAgentState,
+        agentTemplate: parentAgent,
+        localAgentTemplates: { 'file-picker': childAgent },
+        toolCall,
+      })
+
+      expect(JSON.stringify(output)).toContain('Mock agent response')
+      expect(mockLoopAgentSteps).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+      expect(mockLoopAgentSteps.mock.calls[0][0].agentState.agentType).toBe(
+        'file-picker',
+      )
+    })
+
+    it('should allow underscored published agent_type when hyphenated agent is spawnable', async () => {
+      const parentAgent = createMockAgent('parent', [
+        'codebuff/file-picker@1.0.0',
+      ])
+      const childAgent = createMockAgent('codebuff/file-picker@1.0.0')
+      const sessionState = getInitialSessionState(mockFileContext)
+      const toolCall = createSpawnToolCall('codebuff/file_picker@1.0.0')
+
+      const { output } = await handleSpawnAgents({
+        ...handleSpawnAgentsBaseParams,
+        agentState: sessionState.mainAgentState,
+        agentTemplate: parentAgent,
+        localAgentTemplates: { 'codebuff/file-picker@1.0.0': childAgent },
+        toolCall,
+      })
+
+      expect(JSON.stringify(output)).toContain('Mock agent response')
+      expect(mockLoopAgentSteps).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+      expect(mockLoopAgentSteps.mock.calls[0][0].agentState.agentType).toBe(
+        'codebuff/file-picker@1.0.0',
+      )
+    })
+
     it('should reject spawning when agent is not in spawnableAgents list', async () => {
       const parentAgent = createMockAgent('parent', ['thinker']) // Only allows thinker
       const childAgent = createMockAgent('reviewer')

packages/agent-runtime/src/templates/agent-registry.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 import { validateAgents } from '@codebuff/common/templates/agent-validation'
-import { parsePublishedAgentId } from '@codebuff/common/util/agent-id-parsing'
+import {
+  normalizeAgentIdForLookup,
+  parsePublishedAgentId,
+} from '@codebuff/common/util/agent-id-parsing'
 import { DEFAULT_ORG_PREFIX } from '@codebuff/common/util/agent-name-normalization'
 
 import type { DynamicAgentValidationError } from '@codebuff/common/templates/agent-validation'
@@ -31,20 +34,32 @@ export async function getAgentTemplate(
     databaseAgentCache,
     logger,
   } = params
+  const normalizedAgentId = normalizeAgentIdForLookup(agentId)
+
   // 1. Check localAgentTemplates first (dynamic agents + static templates)
   if (localAgentTemplates[agentId]) {
     return localAgentTemplates[agentId]
   }
+  if (normalizedAgentId !== agentId && localAgentTemplates[normalizedAgentId]) {
+    return localAgentTemplates[normalizedAgentId]
+  }
+
   // 2. Check database cache
   if (databaseAgentCache.has(agentId)) {
     return databaseAgentCache.get(agentId) || null
   }
+  if (
+    normalizedAgentId !== agentId &&
+    databaseAgentCache.has(normalizedAgentId)
+  ) {
+    return databaseAgentCache.get(normalizedAgentId) || null
+  }
 
-  const parsed = parsePublishedAgentId(agentId)
+  const parsed = parsePublishedAgentId(normalizedAgentId)
   if (!parsed) {
     // If agentId doesn't parse as publisher/agent format, try as codebuff/agentId
     const codebuffParsed = parsePublishedAgentId(
-      `${DEFAULT_ORG_PREFIX}${agentId}`,
+      `${DEFAULT_ORG_PREFIX}${normalizedAgentId}`,
     )
     if (codebuffParsed) {
       const dbAgent = await fetchAgentFromDatabase({

packages/agent-runtime/src/tools/handlers/tool/spawn-agent-utils.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 import { MAX_AGENT_STEPS_DEFAULT } from '@codebuff/common/constants/agents'
 import { toolNames } from '@codebuff/common/tools/constants'
-import { parseAgentId } from '@codebuff/common/util/agent-id-parsing'
+import {
+  normalizeAgentIdForLookup,
+  parseAgentId,
+} from '@codebuff/common/util/agent-id-parsing'
 import { generateCompactId } from '@codebuff/common/util/string'
 
 import { loopAgentSteps } from '../../../run-agent-step'
@@ -115,7 +118,7 @@ export function getMatchingSpawn(
     publisherId: childPublisherId,
     agentId: childAgentId,
     version: childVersion,
-  } = parseAgentId(childFullAgentId)
+  } = parseAgentId(normalizeAgentIdForLookup(childFullAgentId))
 
   if (!childAgentId) {
     return null
@@ -126,7 +129,7 @@ export function getMatchingSpawn(
       publisherId: spawnablePublisherId,
       agentId: spawnableAgentId,
       version: spawnableVersion,
-    } = parseAgentId(spawnableAgent)
+    } = parseAgentId(normalizeAgentIdForLookup(spawnableAgent))
 
     if (!spawnableAgentId) {
       continue
@@ -177,9 +180,26 @@ export async function validateAndGetAgentTemplate(
   } & ParamsExcluding<typeof getAgentTemplate, 'agentId'>,
 ): Promise<{ agentTemplate: AgentTemplate; agentType: string }> {
   const { agentTypeStr, parentAgentTemplate } = params
+  const BASE_AGENTS = ['base', 'base-free', 'base-max', 'base-experimental']
+  const isBaseAgent = BASE_AGENTS.includes(parentAgentTemplate.id)
+  const agentType = isBaseAgent
+    ? normalizeAgentIdForLookup(agentTypeStr)
+    : getMatchingSpawn(parentAgentTemplate.spawnableAgents, agentTypeStr)
+
+  if (!agentType) {
+    if (toolNames.includes(agentTypeStr as any)) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `"${agentTypeStr}" is a tool, not an agent. Call it directly as a tool instead of wrapping it in spawn_agents.`,
+      )
+    }
+    throw new Error(
+      `Agent type ${parentAgentTemplate.id} is not allowed to spawn child agent type ${agentTypeStr}.`,
+    )
+  }
+
   const agentTemplate = await getAgentTemplate({
     ...params,
-    agentId: agentTypeStr,
+    agentId: agentType,
   })
 
   if (!agentTemplate) {
@@ -190,21 +210,6 @@ export async function validateAndGetAgentTemplate(
     }
     throw new Error(`Agent type ${agentTypeStr} not found.`)
   }
-  const BASE_AGENTS = ['base', 'base-free', 'base-max', 'base-experimental']
-  // Base agent can spawn any agent
-  if (BASE_AGENTS.includes(parentAgentTemplate.id)) {
-    return { agentTemplate, agentType: agentTypeStr }
-  }
-
-  const agentType = getMatchingSpawn(
-    parentAgentTemplate.spawnableAgents,
-    agentTypeStr,
-  )
-  if (!agentType) {
-    throw new Error(
-      `Agent type ${parentAgentTemplate.id} is not allowed to spawn child agent type ${agentTypeStr}.`,
-    )
-  }
 
   return { agentTemplate, agentType }
 }

packages/agent-runtime/src/tools/tool-executor.ts

@@ -229,6 +229,7 @@ export async function executeToolCall<T extends ToolName>(
             }
           }
 
+          let agentIdToLoad = agentTypeStr
           if (!isBaseAgent) {
             const matchingSpawn = getMatchingSpawn(
               agentTemplate.spawnableAgents,
@@ -246,11 +247,12 @@ export async function executeToolCall<T extends ToolName>(
                 error: `Agent "${agentTypeStr}" is not available to spawn`,
               }
             }
+            agentIdToLoad = matchingSpawn
           }
 
           try {
             const template = await getAgentTemplate({
-              agentId: agentTypeStr,
+              agentId: agentIdToLoad,
               localAgentTemplates: params.localAgentTemplates,
               fetchAgentFromDatabase: params.fetchAgentFromDatabase,
               databaseAgentCache: params.databaseAgentCache,