refactor(core): rename RoleSignal → RoleStep, StartSignal → StartStep

- RoleStep now includes content and timestamp fields (aligned with StartStep)
- ModeratorContext.signal → ModeratorContext.step
- workflow-utils: start-signal.ts → start-step.ts, isDryRun updated

Fixes #109

packages/core/README.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Shared types and configuration parser for the [nerve](../../README.md) observati
 - **Config parser** — `parseNerveConfig(yaml)` validates and parses `nerve.yaml` into `NerveConfig` (rejects reflex entries that declare a `workflow` key; reflexes only schedule senses)
 - **Sense → workflow routing** — `parseSenseWorkflowDirective`, `routeSenseComputeOutput`, and types `ParsedSenseWorkflowDirective`, `SenseComputeRoute`
 - **Daemon IPC protocol** — request/response types (`DaemonIpcRequest`, `DaemonIpcResponse`, …) and `parseDaemonIpcRequest` for newline-delimited JSON on the CLI ↔ daemon socket
-- **Workflow automaton types** — `START` / `END` sentinel constants, `WorkflowMessage`, `StartSignal`, `RoleSignal`, `Moderator`, `WorkflowDefinition`, `Role`, `SenseResult`, plus `DEFAULT_ENGINE_MAX_ROUNDS`
+- **Workflow automaton types** — `START` / `END` sentinel constants, `WorkflowMessage`, `StartStep`, `RoleStep`, `Moderator`, `WorkflowDefinition`, `Role`, `SenseResult`, plus `DEFAULT_ENGINE_MAX_ROUNDS`
 - **Result type** — `Result<T>` with `ok()` / `err()` helpers for explicit error handling (no thrown exceptions for parse paths)
 
 ## Usage

packages/core/src/index.ts

@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ export type {
   RoleResult,
   Role,
   RoleMeta,
-  StartSignal,
-  RoleSignal,
+  StartStep,
+  RoleStep,
   ModeratorContext,
   Moderator,
   WorkflowDefinition,

packages/core/src/types.ts

@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ export type RoleResult<Meta> = { content: string; meta: Meta };
  * script, HTTP request, etc.
  */
 export type Role<Meta> = (
-  start: StartSignal,
+  start: StartStep,
   messages: WorkflowMessage[],
 ) => Promise<RoleResult<Meta>>;
 
@@ -90,25 +90,25 @@ export type Role<Meta> = (
 export type RoleMeta = Record<string, Record<string, unknown>>;
 
 /** Engine start frame: prompt, max rounds cap, dry-run flag, and timestamps for the thread. */
-export type StartSignal = {
+export type StartStep = {
   role: START;
   content: string;
   meta: { maxRounds: number; dryRun: boolean };
   timestamp: number;
 };
 
-/** A discriminated union of signals from each role, derived from the meta map. */
-export type RoleSignal<M extends RoleMeta> = {
-  [K in keyof M & string]: { role: K; meta: M[K] };
+/** A discriminated union of role steps after each execution, aligned with `StartStep` shape. */
+export type RoleStep<M extends RoleMeta> = {
+  [K in keyof M & string]: { role: K; meta: M[K]; content: string; timestamp: number };
 }[keyof M & string];
 
 /**
- * Moderator input: either the initial start frame or a role signal after a step.
+ * Moderator input: either the initial start frame or a role step after a step.
  * Lets implementations branch on `context.kind` with full typing for each arm.
  */
 export type ModeratorContext<M extends RoleMeta> =
-  | { kind: "start"; start: StartSignal }
-  | { kind: "step"; signal: RoleSignal<M> };
+  | { kind: "start"; start: StartStep }
+  | { kind: "step"; step: RoleStep<M> };
 
 /**
  * The moderator — a pure routing function. Receives start vs step context,

packages/daemon/src/workflow-worker.ts

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import { join, resolve } from "node:path";
 import type {
   ModeratorContext,
   RoleMeta,
-  StartSignal,
+  StartStep,
   WorkflowDefinition,
   WorkflowMessage,
 } from "@uncaged/nerve-core";
@@ -85,13 +85,13 @@ function validateRoleResult(
   return true;
 }
 
-function isStartMeta(meta: unknown): meta is StartSignal["meta"] {
+function isStartMeta(meta: unknown): meta is StartStep["meta"] {
   return (
     isPlainRecord(meta) && typeof meta.maxRounds === "number" && typeof meta.dryRun === "boolean"
   );
 }
 
-function normalizeStartMeta(meta: unknown, maxRoundsFallback: number): StartSignal["meta"] {
+function normalizeStartMeta(meta: unknown, maxRoundsFallback: number): StartStep["meta"] {
   if (!isPlainRecord(meta)) {
     return { maxRounds: maxRoundsFallback, dryRun: false };
   }
@@ -100,10 +100,7 @@ function normalizeStartMeta(meta: unknown, maxRoundsFallback: number): StartSign
   return { maxRounds, dryRun };
 }
 
-function startSignalFromWorkflowMessage(
-  msg: WorkflowMessage,
-  maxRoundsFallback: number,
-): StartSignal {
+function startStepFromWorkflowMessage(msg: WorkflowMessage, maxRoundsFallback: number): StartStep {
   if (msg.role !== START) {
     return {
       role: START,
@@ -122,7 +119,7 @@ function startSignalFromWorkflowMessage(
 }
 
 type ThreadMessagesState = {
-  start: StartSignal;
+  start: StartStep;
   /** Role outputs only; never includes the `__start__` frame. */
   messages: WorkflowMessage[];
 };
@@ -138,7 +135,7 @@ function initThreadMessages(
     const [first, ...rest] = resumeMessages;
     if (first.role === START) {
       return {
-        start: startSignalFromWorkflowMessage(first, maxRounds),
+        start: startStepFromWorkflowMessage(first, maxRounds),
         messages: [...rest],
       };
     }
@@ -154,7 +151,7 @@ function initThreadMessages(
     };
   }
   const prompt = freshPrompt ?? "";
-  const start: StartSignal = {
+  const start: StartStep = {
     role: START,
     content: prompt,
     meta: { maxRounds, dryRun },
@@ -172,7 +169,7 @@ function initThreadMessages(
 async function executeRole(
   def: WorkflowDefinition<RoleMeta>,
   nextRole: string,
-  start: StartSignal,
+  start: StartStep,
   messages: WorkflowMessage[],
   runId: string,
 ): Promise<{ content: string; meta: Record<string, unknown> } | null> {
@@ -236,7 +233,12 @@ async function runThread(
 
     const stepContext: ModeratorContext<RoleMeta> = {
       kind: "step",
-      signal: { role: nextRole, meta: result.meta },
+      step: {
+        role: nextRole,
+        meta: result.meta,
+        content: result.content,
+        timestamp: message.timestamp,
+      },
     };
     nextRole = def.moderator(stepContext, roleRound, maxRounds);
 

packages/workflow-utils/src/index.ts

@@ -19,4 +19,4 @@ export {
   type SpawnResult,
   type SpawnSafeOptions,
 } from "./spawn-safe.js";
-export { isDryRun } from "./start-signal.js";
+export { isDryRun } from "./start-step.js";

packages/workflow-utils/src/start-signal.ts

@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-import type { StartSignal } from "@uncaged/nerve-core";
-
-/** Returns the thread-level dry-run flag from the workflow start frame. */
-export function isDryRun(start: StartSignal): boolean {
-  return start.meta.dryRun;
-}

packages/workflow-utils/src/start-step.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+import type { StartStep } from "@uncaged/nerve-core";
+
+/** Returns the thread-level dry-run flag from the workflow start frame. */
+export function isDryRun(start: StartStep): boolean {
+  return start.meta.dryRun;
+}