fix(cli): include __start__ message in nerve thread show

When 'nerve thread show' is called without --before, the initial user
prompt (__start__ message) is now displayed first, followed by the most
recent role rounds within the budget.

- Add getThreadStartMessage() to LogStore
- Modify buildThreadCommandOutput to accept optional startRow
- Pass start message from threadShowCommand when before===0
- Add tests for new behavior

Fixes #231

packages/cli/src/__tests__/workflow.test.ts

@@ -533,6 +533,25 @@ describe("buildThreadCommandOutput", () => {
     expect(paginationHint).toContain("--budget 400");
   });
 
+  it("formats startRow first (chronologically before role rounds) and consumes budget first", () => {
+    const start: ThreadRoundRow = {
+      round: 0,
+      logId: 1,
+      timestamp: 100,
+      message: { role: "__start__", content: "go", meta: {}, timestamp: 100 },
+    };
+    const desc = [row(2, "bbb"), row(1, "aaa")];
+    const { lines, paginationHint } = buildThreadCommandOutput([], desc, 50_000, "run-s", start);
+    const text = lines.join("");
+    const idxStart = text.indexOf("[#0 __start__]");
+    const idxA = text.indexOf("\naaa\n");
+    const idxB = text.indexOf("\nbbb\n");
+    expect(idxStart).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+    expect(idxA).toBeGreaterThan(idxStart);
+    expect(idxB).toBeGreaterThan(idxA);
+    expect(paginationHint).toBeNull();
+  });
+
   it("default budget constant matches workflow command default", () => {
     expect(DEFAULT_THREAD_BUDGET_CHARS).toBe(8000);
   });

packages/cli/src/commands/thread.ts

@@ -117,8 +117,9 @@ const threadShowCommand = defineCommand({
         process.exit(1);
       }
 
+      const startRow = before === 0 ? store.getThreadStartMessage(args.runId) : null;
       const totalRoleRounds = store.getThreadRoundCount(args.runId);
-      if (totalRoleRounds === 0) {
+      if (totalRoleRounds === 0 && startRow === null) {
         process.stdout.write(
           `🧵 Workflow thread: ${run.runId}\n   workflow: ${run.workflow}\n   status:   ${run.status}\n\n📭 No role rounds recorded for this run.\n`,
         );
@@ -143,6 +144,7 @@ const threadShowCommand = defineCommand({
         descRows,
         budgetChars,
         args.runId,
+        startRow,
       );
 
       for (const line of lines) {

packages/cli/src/commands/workflow.ts

@@ -278,20 +278,34 @@ function buildTruncatedSingleRound(
 /**
  * Build stdout lines for `nerve thread show`: newest-first selection from
  * `descRows` until `budgetChars` (including `prefixLines`), then chronological order.
+ * When `startRow` is set (typically the persisted `__start__` frame on the first page only),
+ * it is formatted first and its length is subtracted from the budget before consuming `descRows`.
  */
 export function buildThreadCommandOutput(
   prefixLines: string[],
   descRows: ThreadRoundRow[],
   budgetChars: number,
   runId: string,
+  startRow: ThreadRoundRow | null = null,
 ): ThreadCommandOutput {
   const prefixText = prefixLines.join("");
   let remaining = Math.max(0, budgetChars - prefixText.length);
-  const picked: ThreadRoundRow[] = [];
+  const leadingRoundBlocks: string[] = [];
 
   const budgetFlag =
     budgetChars === DEFAULT_THREAD_BUDGET_CHARS ? "" : ` --budget ${String(budgetChars)}`;
 
+  if (startRow !== null) {
+    const startBlock = formatThreadRoundBlock(startRow);
+    if (startBlock.length <= remaining) {
+      leadingRoundBlocks.push(startBlock);
+      remaining -= startBlock.length;
+    } else {
+      return buildTruncatedSingleRound(startRow, remaining, prefixLines, runId, budgetFlag);
+    }
+  }
+
+  const picked: ThreadRoundRow[] = [];
   for (const row of descRows) {
     const block = formatThreadRoundBlock(row);
     if (block.length <= remaining) {
@@ -300,7 +314,13 @@ export function buildThreadCommandOutput(
       continue;
     }
     if (picked.length === 0) {
-      return buildTruncatedSingleRound(row, remaining, prefixLines, runId, budgetFlag);
+      return buildTruncatedSingleRound(
+        row,
+        remaining,
+        [...prefixLines, ...leadingRoundBlocks],
+        runId,
+        budgetFlag,
+      );
     }
     break;
   }
@@ -312,7 +332,7 @@ export function buildThreadCommandOutput(
     paginationHint = `\n⏩ Older rounds not shown. Fetch with:\n   nerve thread show ${runId} --before ${String(shownMinRound)}${budgetFlag}\n`;
   }
 
-  return { lines: [...prefixLines, ...blocksAsc], paginationHint };
+  return { lines: [...prefixLines, ...leadingRoundBlocks, ...blocksAsc], paginationHint };
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

packages/daemon/src/__tests__/crash-recovery.test.ts

@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ function makeLogStore(
     ),
     getThreadRoundCount: vi.fn(() => 0),
     getThreadRounds: vi.fn(() => []),
+    getThreadStartMessage: vi.fn(() => null),
     archiveLogs: vi.fn(() => ({ days: [], vacuumed: false })),
     close: vi.fn(),
     getAllWorkflowRuns: vi.fn(() => []),

packages/daemon/src/__tests__/hot-reload.test.ts

@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ function makeLogStore() {
     getThreadMessages: vi.fn(() => []),
     getThreadRoundCount: vi.fn(() => 0),
     getThreadRounds: vi.fn(() => []),
+    getThreadStartMessage: vi.fn(() => null),
     archiveLogs: vi.fn(() => ({ days: [], vacuumed: false })),
     close: vi.fn(),
     getAllWorkflowRuns: vi.fn(() => []),

packages/daemon/src/__tests__/kernel-trigger-sense.test.ts

@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ function makeMockLogStore() {
     getThreadMessages: vi.fn(() => []),
     getThreadRoundCount: vi.fn(() => 0),
     getThreadRounds: vi.fn(() => []),
+    getThreadStartMessage: vi.fn(() => null),
     archiveLogs: vi.fn(() => ({ days: [], vacuumed: false })),
     close: vi.fn(),
   };

packages/daemon/src/__tests__/kernel-workflow-integration.test.ts

@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ function makeLogStore() {
     getThreadMessages: vi.fn(() => []),
     getThreadRoundCount: vi.fn(() => 0),
     getThreadRounds: vi.fn(() => []),
+    getThreadStartMessage: vi.fn(() => null),
     archiveLogs: vi.fn(() => ({ days: [], vacuumed: false })),
     close: vi.fn(),
   };

packages/daemon/src/__tests__/workflow-manager.test.ts

@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ function makeLogStore() {
     getThreadMessages: vi.fn(() => []),
     getThreadRoundCount: vi.fn(() => 0),
     getThreadRounds: vi.fn(() => []),
+    getThreadStartMessage: vi.fn(() => null),
     archiveLogs: vi.fn(() => ({ days: [], vacuumed: false })),
     close: vi.fn(),
     getAllWorkflowRuns: vi.fn(() => []),

packages/store/src/__tests__/log-store-crash-recovery.test.ts

@@ -255,5 +255,51 @@ describe("LogStore — crash recovery helpers (Phase 3)", () => {
       expect(store.getThreadRoundCount("missing")).toBe(0);
       expect(store.getThreadRounds("missing", { before: 0, limit: 10 })).toHaveLength(0);
     });
+
+    it("getThreadStartMessage returns __start__ row with round 0 and excludes it from getThreadRounds", () => {
+      store.append({
+        source: "workflow",
+        type: "thread_workflow_message",
+        refId: "run-start",
+        payload: JSON.stringify({
+          role: "__start__",
+          content: "launch",
+          meta: { prompt: "hi" },
+          timestamp: 50,
+        }),
+        timestamp: 50,
+      });
+      store.append({
+        source: "workflow",
+        type: "thread_command_event",
+        refId: "run-start",
+        payload: JSON.stringify({ type: "step_a", role: "alpha", content: "hello", meta: {} }),
+        timestamp: 51,
+      });
+
+      expect(store.getThreadRoundCount("run-start")).toBe(1);
+
+      const start = store.getThreadStartMessage("run-start");
+      expect(start).not.toBeNull();
+      expect(start?.round).toBe(0);
+      expect(start?.message.role).toBe("__start__");
+      expect(start?.message.content).toBe("launch");
+
+      const rounds = store.getThreadRounds("run-start", { before: 0, limit: 50 });
+      expect(rounds).toHaveLength(1);
+      expect(rounds[0].round).toBe(1);
+      expect(rounds[0].message.role).toBe("alpha");
+    });
+
+    it("getThreadStartMessage returns null when no __start__ message", () => {
+      store.append({
+        source: "workflow",
+        type: "thread_command_event",
+        refId: "run-no-start",
+        payload: JSON.stringify({ type: "step_a", role: "alpha", content: "x", meta: {} }),
+        timestamp: 1,
+      });
+      expect(store.getThreadStartMessage("run-no-start")).toBeNull();
+    });
   });
 });

packages/store/src/log-store.ts

@@ -166,6 +166,11 @@ export type LogStore = {
    * with `round` from ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY id ASC). No schema migration — numbering is computed in SQL.
    */
   getThreadRounds: (runId: string, params: GetThreadRoundsParams) => ThreadRoundRow[];
+  /**
+   * The workflow `__start__` message for a run (if persisted), as a {@link ThreadRoundRow}
+   * with `round` 0 — not part of {@link getThreadRoundCount} / {@link getThreadRounds} numbering.
+   */
+  getThreadStartMessage: (runId: string) => ThreadRoundRow | null;
   /**
    * Export logs older than the retention window to `data/archive/logs/YYYY-MM-DD.jsonl`,
    * then delete those rows and advance `meta.archived_up_to` in one transaction per day
@@ -396,6 +401,15 @@ export function createLogStore(dbPath: string): LogStore {
      LIMIT @lim`,
   );
 
+  const getThreadStartMessageStmt = sqlite.prepare(
+    `SELECT id, timestamp, payload FROM logs
+     WHERE source = 'workflow' AND type IN ('thread_command_event', 'thread_workflow_message') AND ref_id = ?
+       AND payload IS NOT NULL AND json_valid(payload) = 1
+       AND COALESCE(json_extract(payload, '$.role'), '') = '__start__'
+     ORDER BY id ASC
+     LIMIT 1`,
+  );
+
   const getActiveWorkflowRunsStmt = sqlite.prepare(
     "SELECT run_id, workflow, status, timestamp, exit_code FROM workflow_runs WHERE status IN ('queued', 'started') ORDER BY timestamp ASC",
   );
@@ -676,6 +690,16 @@ export function createLogStore(dbPath: string): LogStore {
     return out;
   }
 
+  function getThreadStartMessage(runId: string): ThreadRoundRow | null {
+    const row = getThreadStartMessageStmt.get(runId) as
+      | { id: number; timestamp: number; payload: string | null }
+      | undefined;
+    if (row === undefined || row.payload === null) return null;
+    const message = parseRoundPayload(row.payload, row.timestamp);
+    if (message === null) return null;
+    return { round: 0, logId: row.id, timestamp: row.timestamp, message };
+  }
+
   function archiveDayTx(day: string, start: number, endExclusive: number): void {
     runInTransaction(sqlite, () => {
       deleteLogsForDayStmt.run({ start, endExclusive });
@@ -743,6 +767,7 @@ export function createLogStore(dbPath: string): LogStore {
     getThreadMessages,
     getThreadRoundCount,
     getThreadRounds,
+    getThreadStartMessage,
     archiveLogs,
     close,
   };

packages/workflow-utils/src/index.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ export { createCursorRole } from "./role-cursor.js";
 export { createHermesRole } from "./role-hermes.js";
 export { createLlmRole } from "./role-llm.js";
 export { createReActRole } from "./role-react.js";
+export { cursorAgent } from "./shared/cursor-agent.js";
+export { llmExtract } from "./shared/llm-extract.js";
 export {
   nerveAgentContext,
   readNerveYaml,