Audit and inline trivial single-use local aliases

[cv]

Context

While resolving PR #4471, we found a trivial local variable that could be inlined safely:

await onboardRuntimeBoundary.recordStateResultsWithStepCompatibility(providerInferenceResult.stateResults);
session = providerInferenceResult.session;

const sandboxStateResult = await handleSandboxState({
  session,
  // ...
});

The reassignment only fed the next call and was clearer as:

await onboardRuntimeBoundary.recordStateResultsWithStepCompatibility(providerInferenceResult.stateResults);

const sandboxStateResult = await handleSandboxState({
  session: providerInferenceResult.session,
  // ...
});

This suggests there may be other low-risk single-use local aliases in the TypeScript/JavaScript codebase that can be simplified.

Initial exploration

A raw ast-grep scan for property-alias-shaped locals found many possible matches:

npx --package @ast-grep/cli ast-grep run \
  --lang ts \
  -p 'const $V = $OBJ.$PROP' \
  --json=stream src test scripts nemoclaw/src

At the time of exploration, this returned about 679 syntactic matches in the main code/test areas. A follow-up TypeScript-symbol filter narrowed that to about 378 conservative single-use const aliases across code and tests:

• src: about 171
• test: about 189
• scripts: about 10
• nemoclaw/src: about 7
• nemoclaw-blueprint: about 1

Example candidates from the exploratory pass:

src/lib/domain/sandbox/logs.ts:157
  text = lines[lineIndex]
  use: parseLineTimestamp(text)

src/lib/inference/onboard-probes.ts:100
  fn = value.function
  use: hasValidFunctionCallPayload(fn)

src/lib/messaging/compiler/manifest-compiler.ts:302
  value = process.env[input.envKey]
  use: value?.replace(...)

src/lib/state/sandbox-session.ts:202
  sessionCount = matchingSessions.length
  use: sessionCount > 0

nemoclaw/src/blueprint/runner.ts:183
  version = value.version
  use: isOptionalString(version)

Not every match should be changed. Some single-use locals are useful documentation, avoid repeated complex expressions, improve test readability, or are required patterns such as exhaustiveness guards:

const _exhaustive: never = runtime;
return _exhaustive;

Proposed work

Create a focused cleanup PR, or a small series of cleanup PRs, that uses ast-grep plus symbol-aware filtering to find and manually review obvious single-use local aliases.

The goal is not to add a broad lint rule immediately. The first pass should establish which patterns are actually helpful to inline in this codebase.

Suggested approach

1. Use ast-grep to find syntactic shapes such as:
   • const $V = $OBJ.$PROP
   • const $V = $OBJ[$KEY]
   • const $V = $EXPR as $TYPE
   • simple literal or identifier aliases used exactly once
2. Add a TypeScript-aware filter, or equivalent review script, that only reports variables with exactly one local reference.
3. Sort candidates by lowest risk:
   • declaration and use in adjacent statements
   • initializer is side-effect-free
   • use is a simple argument, condition, object property, or return expression
4. Manually review candidates before editing.
5. Avoid changes where the local name documents intent, improves tests, prevents long-line churn, or makes a complex expression easier to read.
6. Prefer small reviewable patches over a large mechanical rewrite.

Acceptance criteria

• A PR removes a set of clearly redundant single-use locals without changing behavior.
• The PR does not mix this cleanup with unrelated feature or conflict-resolution work.
• Tests and type-checks relevant to touched files pass.
• Any helper script used for the scan is either:
  • kept outside the repo and documented in the PR, or
  • committed only if maintainers want a reusable cleanup/audit tool.
• The PR explains the selection criteria and lists notable classes intentionally skipped.

Suggested labels / type

• Native Issue Type: Task
• Labels: area: architecture, help wanted

[kagura-agent]

I'd like to take this on. Plan:

1. Use ast-grep to find const $V = $OBJ.$PROP patterns with single-use references
2. Filter to lowest-risk candidates: adjacent declaration+use, side-effect-free initializer, simple argument/property use
3. Skip locals that document intent, improve readability, or are exhaustiveness guards
4. Start with nemoclaw/src/ (smallest, ~7 candidates) as a focused first PR

Could I be assigned?

[cv]

@kagura-agent thank you! Let me know if you hit any snags.

[kagura-agent]

Stepping back from this — I've had it assigned for 4 days without starting the audit. The codebase-wide AST analysis needs more focused time than I can commit right now. Please unassign me so someone else can pick it up.

[kagura-agent]

Apologies for claiming this and not following through in a timely manner — I had a workflow scheduling issue that prevented me from getting to the implementation phase. Sorry for blocking the issue. Glad to see it's been picked up and resolved.