ClawRunr · JoseWalker · Aug 11, 2026
diff --git a/base/src/main/java/ai/javaclaw/tasks/TaskHandler.java b/base/src/main/java/ai/javaclaw/tasks/TaskHandler.java
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
 
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
 import static ai.javaclaw.tasks.Task.Status.awaiting_human_input;
 import static ai.javaclaw.tasks.Task.Status.completed;
 import static java.util.Optional.ofNullable;
@@ -18,6 +21,12 @@ public class TaskHandler {
 
     private static final Logger LOGGER = new JobRunrDashboardLogger(LoggerFactory.getLogger(TaskHandler.class));
 
+    private static final String CONVERSATION_ID_PREFIX = "task-";
+    private static final String TASK_FILE_EXTENSION = ".md";
+    /** The character set task file names are already restricted to by {@code FileSystemTaskRepository}. */
+    private static final Pattern UNSAFE_CHARACTERS = Pattern.compile("[^a-zA-Z0-9._-]");
+    private static final Pattern REPEATED_SEPARATORS = Pattern.compile("_{2,}");
+
     private final Agent agent;
     private final TaskRepository taskRepository;
     private final ChannelRegistry channelRegistry;
@@ -40,7 +49,7 @@ public void executeTask(String taskId) {
         try {
             LOGGER.info("Starting task: {}", task.getName());
             String agentInput = formatTaskForAgent(inProgress);
-            TaskResult result = agent.prompt(taskId, agentInput, TaskResult.class);
+            TaskResult result = agent.prompt(getConversationId(taskId), agentInput, TaskResult.class);
             taskRepository.save(inProgress.withFeedback(result.feedback()).withStatus(result.newStatus()));
             notifyUser(task.getName(), result);
             LOGGER.info("Finished task: {} with status {}", task.getName(), result.newStatus());
@@ -66,6 +75,56 @@ private void notifyUser(String taskName, TaskResult result) {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Derives the conversation id used for a task's chat memory.
+     *
+     * <p>A task's id is the absolute path of its markdown file. Passed straight through it reaches
+     * {@code FileSystemChatMemoryRepository}, which resolves {@code conversations/chat-{id}.yaml} -
+     * so each task creates a directory tree mirroring its own location on disk instead of a single
+     * conversation file, never appears in the conversation list, and on Windows is rejected outright
+     * because of the colon in the drive letter.
+     *
+     * <p>The last two path segments carry everything needed: tasks are stored as
+     * {@code {date}/{time}-{name}.md} and recurring ones as {@code recurring/{name}.md}, so the pair
+     * is unique across days and stays readable. Characters outside the set task file names already
+     * use are replaced, which keeps the result a single safe file name component whatever the id
+     * turns out to contain.
+     *
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if no id can be derived, rather than falling back to the
+     *                                  path and recreating the problem this method exists to avoid
+     */
+    static String getConversationId(String taskId) {
+        if (taskId == null || taskId.isBlank()) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot derive a conversation id from an empty task id");
+        }
+
+        Path taskFile = Path.of(taskId).normalize();
+        Path fileName = taskFile.getFileName();
+        Path parent = taskFile.getParent();
+        if (fileName == null) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot derive a conversation id from a task id that names no file");
+        }
+
+        String name = removeExtension(fileName.toString());
+        String group = parent == null || parent.getFileName() == null ? "" : parent.getFileName().toString();
+        if (name.isBlank() && group.isBlank()) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot derive a conversation id from a task id that names no file");
+        }
+
+        return sanitize(CONVERSATION_ID_PREFIX + (group.isBlank() ? name : group + "-" + name));
+    }
+
+    private static String removeExtension(String fileName) {
+        return fileName.endsWith(TASK_FILE_EXTENSION)
+                ? fileName.substring(0, fileName.length() - TASK_FILE_EXTENSION.length())
+                : fileName;
+    }
+
+    private static String sanitize(String conversationId) {
+        String replaced = UNSAFE_CHARACTERS.matcher(conversationId).replaceAll("_");
+        return REPEATED_SEPARATORS.matcher(replaced).replaceAll("_");
+    }
+
     private String formatTaskForAgent(Task task) {
         return String.format("""
                 Handle the following task and report the new status ('completed' or 'awaiting_human_input') with the feedback what was done

diff --git a/base/src/test/java/ai/javaclaw/tasks/TaskHandlerTest.java b/base/src/test/java/ai/javaclaw/tasks/TaskHandlerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+package ai.javaclaw.tasks;
+
+import ai.javaclaw.agent.Agent;
+import ai.javaclaw.channels.ChannelRegistry;
+import ai.javaclaw.tasks.TaskHandler.TaskResult;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtendWith;
+import org.mockito.ArgumentCaptor;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoExtension;
+import org.springframework.core.io.FileSystemResource;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.time.Instant;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatThrownBy;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyString;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.eq;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+@ExtendWith(MockitoExtension.class)
+class TaskHandlerTest {
+
+    @TempDir
+    Path workspaceDir;
+
+    @Mock
+    Agent agentMock;
+    @Mock
+    ChannelRegistry channelRegistryMock;
+
+    TaskRepository taskRepository;
+    TaskHandler taskHandler;
+
+    @BeforeEach
+    void setUp() throws IOException {
+        taskRepository = new FileSystemTaskRepository(new FileSystemResource(workspaceDir));
+        taskHandler = new TaskHandler(agentMock, taskRepository, channelRegistryMock);
+    }
+
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+    // The conversation id the agent is called with
+    //
+    // A task's id is the absolute path of its markdown file. Handing that to
+    // the agent as a conversation id makes the memory repository resolve
+    // conversations/chat-<absolute path>.yaml, which spreads one file per task
+    // across a directory tree mirroring the filesystem.
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    @Test
+    void callsTheAgentWithAConversationIdThatIsNotTheTaskFilePath() {
+        Task task = givenATodoTask("Buy milk");
+        when(agentMock.prompt(anyString(), anyString(), eq(TaskResult.class)))
+                .thenReturn(new TaskResult(Task.Status.completed, "done"));
+
+        taskHandler.executeTask(task.getId());
+
+        assertThat(conversationIdPassedToAgent())
+                .isNotEqualTo(task.getId())
+                .doesNotContain("/")
+                .doesNotContain("\\")
+                .startsWith("task-");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void derivesTheConversationIdFromTheTasksDateDirectoryAndFileName() {
+        Task task = givenATodoTask("Buy milk");
+        when(agentMock.prompt(anyString(), anyString(), eq(TaskResult.class)))
+                .thenReturn(new TaskResult(Task.Status.completed, "done"));
+
+        taskHandler.executeTask(task.getId());
+
+        Path taskFile = Path.of(task.getId());
+        String dateDirectory = taskFile.getParent().getFileName().toString();
+        String fileName = taskFile.getFileName().toString().replace(".md", "");
+        assertThat(conversationIdPassedToAgent()).isEqualTo("task-" + dateDirectory + "-" + fileName);
+    }
+
+    private String conversationIdPassedToAgent() {
+        ArgumentCaptor<String> conversationId = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(String.class);
+        org.mockito.Mockito.verify(agentMock)
+                .prompt(conversationId.capture(), anyString(), eq(TaskResult.class));
+        return conversationId.getValue();
+    }
+
+    private Task givenATodoTask(String name) {
+        return taskRepository.save(new Task(null, name, Instant.now(), Task.Status.todo, "Some description"));
+    }
+
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+    // Deriving the id, in isolation
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    @Test
+    void keepsTheDateDirectorySoTasksOnDifferentDaysDoNotShareAConversation() {
+        String monday = TaskHandler.getConversationId("/workspace/tasks/2026-08-10/103000-buy_milk.md");
+        String tuesday = TaskHandler.getConversationId("/workspace/tasks/2026-08-11/103000-buy_milk.md");
+
+        assertThat(monday).isEqualTo("task-2026-08-10-103000-buy_milk");
+        assertThat(tuesday).isEqualTo("task-2026-08-11-103000-buy_milk");
+        assertThat(monday).isNotEqualTo(tuesday);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void usesTheNameAloneWhenTheTaskIdHasNoDirectory() {
+        String id = TaskHandler.getConversationId("some-id");
+
+        assertThat(id).isEqualTo("task-some-id");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void namesRecurringTasksAfterTheirOwnDirectory() {
+        String id = TaskHandler.getConversationId("/workspace/tasks/recurring/water_the_plants.md");
+
+        assertThat(id).isEqualTo("task-recurring-water_the_plants");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void replacesCharactersThatCannotSafelyAppearInAFileName() {
+        String id = TaskHandler.getConversationId("/workspace/tasks/2026-08-11/103000-a b:c.md");
+
+        assertThat(id).isEqualTo("task-2026-08-11-103000-a_b_c");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void collapsesTheSeparatorsIntroducedByReplacement() {
+        String id = TaskHandler.getConversationId("/workspace/tasks/2026-08-11/103000-a???b.md");
+
+        assertThat(id).isEqualTo("task-2026-08-11-103000-a_b");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void resolvesRelativeSegmentsBeforeDerivingTheId() {
+        String id = TaskHandler.getConversationId("/workspace/tasks/2026-08-11/../2026-08-10/103000-buy_milk.md");
+
+        assertThat(id).isEqualTo("task-2026-08-10-103000-buy_milk");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void refusesATaskIdItCannotDeriveAnIdFrom() {
+        assertThatThrownBy(() -> TaskHandler.getConversationId(null))
+                .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class);
+        assertThatThrownBy(() -> TaskHandler.getConversationId("   "))
+                .isInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/base/src/test/java/ai/javaclaw/tasks/TaskManagerTest.java b/base/src/test/java/ai/javaclaw/tasks/TaskManagerTest.java
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ void createEnqueuesJob() {
         Task saved = new Task("some-id", "handle-email", Instant.now(), Task.Status.todo, "Process unread email messages");
         when(taskRepositoryMock.save(any(Task.class))).thenReturn(saved);
         when(taskRepositoryMock.getTaskById("some-id")).thenReturn(saved);
-        when(agentMock.prompt(eq("some-id"), anyString(), any())).thenReturn(new TaskResult(Status.completed, "All mail was summarized!"));
+        // The agent is called with the task's conversation id, not with the task id itself
+        when(agentMock.prompt(eq("task-some-id"), anyString(), any())).thenReturn(new TaskResult(Status.completed, "All mail was summarized!"));
 
         taskManager.create("handle-email", "Process unread email messages");