headroom/tests/test_lossless_then_lossy.py
Dima Solodukha 4e30dde2ac
fix(router): compact JSON evades compression via whitespace token counting (#1857)
## Description

`ContentRouter` counts section tokens with `len(content.split())`. On
compact machine-generated JSON — the default output of
`json.dumps(separators=(",", ":"))`, `JSON.stringify`, and boto3 — there
are no spaces, so a large payload counts as ~1 "token". Every section
compression ratio then computes as ~1.0 and the `min_ratio` acceptance
gate silently rejects the compressor's real output: the router logs
`router:noop` while SmartCrusher separately logs `was_modified=true`.
Compression effectively no-ops on the most common agent payload type
(tool results returning JSON), on every provider.

## Type of Change

- [x] Bug fix (non-breaking change that fixes an issue)
- [ ] New feature (non-breaking change that adds functionality)
- [ ] Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing
functionality to change)
- [ ] Documentation update
- [ ] Performance improvement
- [ ] Code refactoring (no functional changes)

## Changes Made

- Add `_estimate_tokens(text)` — a size-proportional estimate
(`len(text) // 4`, floored at 1), monotone in content size for any
format.
- Replace the decision-relevant `len(...split())` counts in
`ContentRouter` (section original/compressed token counts feeding the
ratio gates, plus the debug estimates) with `_estimate_tokens(...)`.
- Add `tests/test_content_router_compact_json.py`.

## Testing

- [x] Unit tests pass (`pytest`)
- [x] Linting passes (`ruff check .`)
- [x] Type checking passes (`mypy headroom`)
- [x] New tests added for new functionality
- [x] Manual testing performed

### Test Output

```text
$ pytest tests/test_content_router_compact_json.py -q
2 passed, 1 warning

$ ruff check headroom/transforms/content_router.py tests/test_content_router_compact_json.py
All checks passed!

$ mypy headroom/transforms/content_router.py --ignore-missing-imports
Success: no issues found in 1 source file
```

## Real Behavior Proof

- Environment: `ContentRouter` invoked directly on a 150-item
ECS-service JSON tool_result, Python 3.13, estimator tokenizer.
- Exact command / steps: run the same payload two ways — compact
(`json.dumps(..., separators=(",", ":"))`) and the identical data with
spaces (`separators=(", ", ": ")`) — through
`ContentRouter(ContentRouterConfig(skip_user_messages=False))`.
- Observed result: before this change, compact JSON saved 0.0%
(`router:noop`) while the identical data with spaces saved 43.3%
(`router:tool_result:smart_crusher`) — same data, same compressor, only
whitespace differed. After this change, compact JSON compresses
equivalently to the spaced form.
- Not tested: no behavior change expected for content that already
tokenizes with whitespace (prose, code); those counts move from
word-count to chars/4 but the ratio comparison is self-consistent (both
sides use the same estimator).

## Review Readiness

- [x] I have performed a self-review
- [x] This PR is ready for human review

## Checklist

- [x] My code follows the project's style guidelines
- [x] I have performed a self-review of my code
- [x] I have commented my code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas
- [ ] I have made corresponding changes to the documentation
- [x] My changes generate no new warnings
- [x] I have added tests that prove my fix is effective or that my
feature works
- [x] New and existing unit tests pass locally with my changes
- [ ] I have updated the CHANGELOG.md if applicable

## Additional Notes

Scope kept deliberately narrow: only the counts that feed
compression-acceptance decisions are changed. Non-decision `.split()`
uses elsewhere are left alone. Happy to add a CHANGELOG entry if you'd
like one.

---------

Co-authored-by: Tejas Chopra <chopratejas@gmail.com>
2026-07-14 06:54:01 -04:00

184 lines
6.9 KiB
Python

"""Lossless-then-lossy dispatch.
In lossy mode (``lossless=False``) with ``lossless_then_lossy`` on, a foldable
block is FIRST byte-folded losslessly and THEN handed to the aggressive lossy
compressor (Kompress) on the folded remainder. The lossy result is kept only
when it saves at least ``lossy_min_extra_savings`` MORE than the fold already
did; otherwise the pure byte-exact fold is kept, so it is never worse than the
plain fold.
DIFF content is never lossy-chained (Kompressing hunks breaks ``git apply``).
Kompress is mocked so these run without the ModernBERT model.
"""
from headroom.transforms.content_router import (
CompressionStrategy,
ContentRouter,
ContentRouterConfig,
_estimate_tokens,
)
from headroom.transforms.lossless_compaction import search_unheading
def _grep_block() -> str:
# Repeated path prefixes → search_heading folds byte-exact (word count flat).
paths = [
"src/services/wallet/overdraft/automated_overdraft_initiation.py",
"src/services/wallet/overdraft/capacity_limits.py",
]
return (
"\n".join(
f"{p}:{ln}: result = compute_overdraft_capacity(business_id, amount)"
for p in paths
for ln in range(1, 40)
)
+ "\n"
)
def _diff_block() -> str:
files = ["foo", "bar", "baz"]
return (
"\n".join(
f"diff --git a/{f}.py b/{f}.py\n"
f"index 1111111aaaaaaa..2222222bbbbbbb 100644\n"
f"--- a/{f}.py\n+++ b/{f}.py\n"
f"@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@\n- old_{f} = 1\n+ new_{f} = 2\n unchanged_{f}"
for f in files
)
+ "\n"
)
def _router(*, lossless_then_lossy, lossless=False, ccr=False, kompress=None):
r = ContentRouter(
ContentRouterConfig(
lossless=lossless,
lossless_then_lossy=lossless_then_lossy,
ccr_inject_marker=ccr,
)
)
calls: list[str] = []
def _fake_kompress(content, context, question=None):
calls.append(content)
out = kompress(content) if kompress else content
return out, len(out.split())
r._try_ml_compressor = _fake_kompress # type: ignore[method-assign]
return r, calls
def _run(r, content):
tr, rc = [], {}
out, was = r._compress_block_content(
content,
hash(content),
"",
1.0,
1.0,
None,
tr,
rc,
[],
"tool_result",
"tool",
True,
)
return out, was, tr, rc
def test_lossy_after_fold_chains_when_it_helps():
block = _grep_block()
# kompress removes far more than the min-extra-savings floor → lossy kept.
r, calls = _router(lossless_then_lossy=True, kompress=lambda c: "TINY")
out, was, tr, rc = _run(r, block)
assert was is True
assert out == "TINY"
assert len(calls) == 1 # kompress ran on the folded remainder
assert rc.get("lossless_then_lossy_accept") == 1
assert rc.get("lossless_accept", 0) == 0
assert tr == ["router:tool_result:lossless_search+kompress"]
def test_keeps_pure_fold_when_lossy_marginal():
block = _grep_block()
# kompress returns the fold unchanged (no gain) → pure byte-exact fold kept.
r, calls = _router(lossless_then_lossy=True, kompress=lambda c: c)
out, was, tr, rc = _run(r, block)
assert was is True
assert len(calls) == 1 # kompress was attempted...
assert rc.get("lossless_accept") == 1 # ...but the pure fold won
assert rc.get("lossless_then_lossy_accept", 0) == 0
assert search_unheading(out) == block # fully recoverable (byte-exact)
def test_never_kompresses_diff():
block = _diff_block()
# kompress would mangle a diff; the lossy pass must never touch diff content.
r, calls = _router(lossless_then_lossy=True, kompress=lambda c: "MANGLED")
out, was, tr, rc = _run(r, block)
assert was is True
assert calls == [] # lossy stage never touched the diff
assert "MANGLED" not in out
assert out.count("@@ ") == block.count("@@ ") # every hunk header preserved
assert "new_foo = 2" in out # hunk bodies intact → still applies
def test_lossy_after_fold_off_is_pure_fold():
block = _grep_block()
r, calls = _router(lossless_then_lossy=False, kompress=lambda c: "TINY")
out, was, tr, rc = _run(r, block)
assert was is True
assert calls == [] # no lossy pass when lossless-then-lossy is disabled
assert rc.get("lossless_accept") == 1
assert search_unheading(out) == block
def test_lossy_after_fold_never_worse_than_pure_fold():
block = _grep_block()
r_fold, _ = _router(lossless_then_lossy=False, kompress=lambda c: "TINY")
r_chain, _ = _router(lossless_then_lossy=True, kompress=lambda c: "TINY")
out_fold, _, _, _ = _run(r_fold, block)
out_chain, _, _, _ = _run(r_chain, block)
assert len(out_chain) <= len(out_fold) # chaining never loses to the pure fold
def test_lossy_gate_boundary_default(monkeypatch):
monkeypatch.delenv("HEADROOM_LOSSY_MIN_EXTRA_SAVINGS", raising=False)
block = _grep_block()
r, _ = _router(lossless_then_lossy=True)
assert abs(r._lossy_min_extra_savings - 0.05) < 1e-9 # default: require >=5% extra
# Measure the fold with the SAME estimator the router's gate uses
# (_estimate_tokens), not len(split()) — the two diverge, and the gate at
# content_router.py compares _komp_tokens against _estimate_tokens(fold).
fold_tok = _estimate_tokens(r._lossless_first(block, CompressionStrategy.SEARCH)[0])
# Kompress that keeps 94% of fold tokens -> saves 6% >= the 5% floor -> chained.
keep = int(fold_tok * 0.94)
r._try_ml_compressor = lambda c, ctx, q=None: (" ".join(["w"] * keep), keep) # type: ignore
_, was, tr, rc = _run(r, block)
assert was is True and rc.get("lossless_then_lossy_accept") == 1
def test_lossy_gate_env_override(monkeypatch):
monkeypatch.setenv("HEADROOM_LOSSY_MIN_EXTRA_SAVINGS", "0.20")
r, _ = _router(lossless_then_lossy=True)
assert abs(r._lossy_min_extra_savings - 0.20) < 1e-9 # env override wins
block = _grep_block()
# Same estimator as the router gate (_estimate_tokens), not len(split()).
fold_tok = _estimate_tokens(r._lossless_first(block, CompressionStrategy.SEARCH)[0])
keep = int(fold_tok * 0.90) # saves 10%: passes the 5% default but FAILS the 20% override
r._try_ml_compressor = lambda c, ctx, q=None: (" ".join(["w"] * keep), keep) # type: ignore
_, was, tr, rc = _run(r, block)
assert rc.get("lossless_accept") == 1 # kept pure fold under the stricter 20% gate
assert rc.get("lossless_then_lossy_accept", 0) == 0
def test_lossy_after_fold_noop_in_lossless_only_mode():
block = _grep_block()
# lossless-only mode never emits lossy even if lossless-then-lossy is set.
r, calls = _router(lossless_then_lossy=True, lossless=True, kompress=lambda c: "TINY")
out, was, tr, rc = _run(r, block)
assert was is True
assert calls == [] # no lossy in lossless-only mode
assert search_unheading(out) == block