fix: honor message tool channel for tool dedupe (#1053)

- Treat message tool `channel` as provider hint for dedupe/suppression.
- Prefer NO_REPLY after message tool sends to avoid duplicate replies.

Co-authored-by: Sash Catanzarite <1166151+thesash@users.noreply.github.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@
 - Fix: refactor session store updates, add chat.inject, and harden subagent cleanup flow. (#944) — thanks @tyler6204.
 - Fix: clean up suspended CLI processes across backends. (#978) — thanks @Nachx639.
 - Fix: support MiniMax coding plan usage responses with `model_remains`/`current_interval_*` payloads.
+- Fix: honor message tool channel for duplicate suppression (prefer `NO_REPLY` after `message` tool sends). (#1053) — thanks @sashcatanzarite.
 - Fix: suppress WhatsApp pairing replies for historical catch-up DMs on initial link. (#904)
 - Browser: extension mode recovers when only one tab is attached (stale targetId fallback).
 - Browser: fix `tab not found` for extension relay snapshots/actions when Playwright blocks `newCDPSession` (use the single available Page).

src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.tools.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { extractMessagingToolSend } from "./pi-embedded-subscribe.tools.js";
+
+describe("extractMessagingToolSend", () => {
+  it("uses channel as provider for message tool", () => {
+    const result = extractMessagingToolSend("message", {
+      action: "send",
+      channel: "telegram",
+      to: "123",
+    });
+
+    expect(result?.tool).toBe("message");
+    expect(result?.provider).toBe("telegram");
+    expect(result?.to).toBe("telegram:123");
+  });
+
+  it("prefers provider when both provider and channel are set", () => {
+    const result = extractMessagingToolSend("message", {
+      action: "send",
+      provider: "slack",
+      channel: "telegram",
+      to: "channel:C1",
+    });
+
+    expect(result?.tool).toBe("message");
+    expect(result?.provider).toBe("slack");
+    expect(result?.to).toBe("channel:c1");
+  });
+});

src/agents/pi-embedded-subscribe.tools.ts

@@ -57,8 +57,10 @@ export function extractMessagingToolSend(
     const toRaw = typeof args.to === "string" ? args.to : undefined;
     if (!toRaw) return undefined;
     const providerRaw = typeof args.provider === "string" ? args.provider.trim() : "";
-    const providerId = providerRaw ? normalizeChannelId(providerRaw) : null;
-    const provider = providerId ?? (providerRaw ? providerRaw.toLowerCase() : "message");
+    const channelRaw = typeof args.channel === "string" ? args.channel.trim() : "";
+    const providerHint = providerRaw || channelRaw;
+    const providerId = providerHint ? normalizeChannelId(providerHint) : null;
+    const provider = providerId ?? (providerHint ? providerHint.toLowerCase() : "message");
     const to = normalizeTargetForProvider(provider, toRaw);
     return to ? { tool: toolName, provider, accountId, to } : undefined;
   }

src/agents/system-prompt.test.ts

@@ -216,6 +216,7 @@ describe("buildAgentSystemPrompt", () => {
 
     expect(prompt).toContain("message: Send messages and channel actions");
     expect(prompt).toContain("### message tool");
+    expect(prompt).toContain("respond with ONLY: NO_REPLY");
   });
 
   it("includes runtime provider capabilities when present", () => {

src/agents/system-prompt.ts

@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ function buildMessagingSection(params: {
           "- Use `message` for proactive sends + channel actions (polls, reactions, etc.).",
           "- For `action=send`, include `to` and `message`.",
           `- If multiple channels are configured, pass \`channel\` (${params.messageChannelOptions}).`,
+          `- If you use \`message\` (\`action=send\`) to deliver your user-visible reply, respond with ONLY: ${SILENT_REPLY_TOKEN} (avoid duplicate replies).`,
           params.inlineButtonsEnabled
             ? "- Inline buttons supported. Use `action=send` with `buttons=[[{text,callback_data}]]` (callback_data routes back as a user message)."
             : params.runtimeChannel