feat: file-backed goal objectives + compaction accounting fixes

Compaction fixes (observed in a real long run):
- the summary message's zeroed tokens froze the goal counter at its
  pre-compaction value; segments now close with the previously displayed
  total as a continuity floor
- audits and continuations after a summary tail now take execution params
  (provider/model/agent/variant) from the newest non-summary assistant
  turn instead of inheriting agent 'compaction' and the summarize model

File-backed objectives:
- the objective text lives in <data-dir>/goals/<sessionId>.md, keyed by
  session id (one goal per session, a new goal overwrites the file);
  metadata carries only an objectiveFile flag so session.updated fanout
  stays light, and never a path — ids are pattern-validated before any
  filesystem access
- limit raised to 5000 chars, no snapshot field: the UI fetches content
  via PUT/GET/DELETE /api/goals/objective/:sessionId (behind the blanket
  /api auth gate), writes the file before stamping metadata, and falls
  back to an inline objective when the write fails
- the loop reads the file fresh on every tick, so objectives are
  live-editable mid-goal; a missing file falls back to the inline text
- scheduled goal tasks write the objective file server-side; VS Code
  degrades to the audit note (route unavailable there by design)

packages/ui/src/components/chat/SessionGoalDialog.tsx

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import { Textarea } from '@/components/ui/textarea';
 import { NumberInput } from '@/components/ui/number-input';
 import { toast } from '@/components/ui';
 import { Checkbox } from '@/components/ui/checkbox';
-import { useSessionGoal } from '@/hooks/useSessionGoal';
+import { useGoalObjectiveContent, useSessionGoal } from '@/hooks/useSessionGoal';
 import {
   formatGoalTokens,
   SESSION_GOAL_OBJECTIVE_CHAR_LIMIT,
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ interface SessionGoalDialogProps {
 export function SessionGoalDialog({ open, onOpenChange, sessionId, directory }: SessionGoalDialogProps) {
   const { t } = useI18n();
   const { goal } = useSessionGoal(sessionId, directory);
+  const objectiveContent = useGoalObjectiveContent(sessionId, goal);
 
   const [objective, setObjective] = React.useState('');
   const [budgetEnabled, setBudgetEnabled] = React.useState(false);
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ export function SessionGoalDialog({ open, onOpenChange, sessionId, directory }:
 
   React.useEffect(() => {
     if (!open) return;
-    setObjective(goal?.objective ?? '');
+    setObjective(goal?.objectiveFile ? (objectiveContent ?? '') : (goal?.objective ?? ''));
     setBudgetEnabled(Boolean(goal?.tokenBudget));
     setTokenBudget(goal?.tokenBudget ?? 200_000);
     // Seed the form only when the dialog opens; live goal updates while it is
@@ -48,6 +49,14 @@ export function SessionGoalDialog({ open, onOpenChange, sessionId, directory }:
     // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
   }, [open]);
 
+  // File-backed objectives fetch async — the content usually lands right
+  // after the dialog opens. Late-seed the textarea only while it is still
+  // untouched so a slow fetch never clobbers the user's typing.
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    if (!open || !goal?.objectiveFile || objectiveContent === null) return;
+    setObjective((current) => (current === '' ? objectiveContent : current));
+  }, [open, goal?.objectiveFile, objectiveContent]);
+
   const run = React.useCallback(async (action: () => Promise<void>, closeAfter: boolean) => {
     setBusy(true);
     try {
@@ -62,7 +71,8 @@ export function SessionGoalDialog({ open, onOpenChange, sessionId, directory }:
   }, [onOpenChange, t]);
 
   const trimmedObjective = objective.trim();
-  const objectiveChanged = trimmedObjective !== (goal?.objective ?? '');
+  const savedObjective = goal?.objectiveFile ? (objectiveContent ?? '') : (goal?.objective ?? '');
+  const objectiveChanged = trimmedObjective !== savedObjective;
   const budgetValue = budgetEnabled ? tokenBudget : null;
   const budgetChanged = budgetValue !== (goal?.tokenBudget ?? null);
   // A completed goal is read-only: remove it and arm a new one instead of
@@ -112,7 +122,7 @@ export function SessionGoalDialog({ open, onOpenChange, sessionId, directory }:
           )}
 
           {isCompleted ? (
-            <p className="max-h-48 overflow-y-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words typography-meta text-muted-foreground">{goal.objective}</p>
+            <p className="max-h-48 overflow-y-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words typography-meta text-muted-foreground">{objectiveContent ?? goal.objective}</p>
           ) : (
             <>
               <div className="space-y-1">

packages/ui/src/components/chat/SessionGoalRow.tsx

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import React from 'react';
 import { Icon } from '@/components/icon/Icon';
 import { useSessionStatus } from '@/sync/sync-context';
-import { useSessionGoal } from '@/hooks/useSessionGoal';
+import { useGoalObjectiveContent, useSessionGoal } from '@/hooks/useSessionGoal';
 import { formatGoalTokens } from '@/lib/sessionGoalMetadata';
 import { sessionGoalStatusColor, sessionGoalStatusLabelKey } from '@/lib/sessionGoalPresentation';
 import { setSessionGoalStatus } from '@/lib/sessionGoalActions';
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ interface SessionGoalRowProps {
 export const SessionGoalRow: React.FC<SessionGoalRowProps> = React.memo(({ sessionId, directory, className }) => {
   const { t } = useI18n();
   const { goal, enabled } = useSessionGoal(sessionId ?? '', directory);
+  const objectiveContent = useGoalObjectiveContent(sessionId ?? '', goal);
   const sessionStatus = useSessionStatus(sessionId ?? '', directory);
   const [busy, setBusy] = React.useState(false);
 
@@ -65,11 +66,11 @@ export const SessionGoalRow: React.FC<SessionGoalRowProps> = React.memo(({ sessi
         className,
       )}
       aria-label={t('chat.goal.row.aria')}
-      title={goal.objective}
+      title={objectiveContent ?? undefined}
     >
       <Icon name="target" className="h-3.5 w-3.5 flex-shrink-0" style={{ color: sessionGoalStatusColor[goal.status] }} aria-hidden="true" />
       <span className="min-w-0 flex-1 truncate typography-meta text-foreground">
-        {goal.note || goal.objective}
+        {goal.note || objectiveContent || ''}
       </span>
       {goal.status === 'active' && (!sessionStatus || sessionStatus.type === 'idle') ? (
         // The agent stopped but the goal is still active: the server is

packages/ui/src/hooks/useSessionGoal.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
+import React from 'react';
 import { useSession } from '@/sync/sync-context';
 import { getSessionGoal, type SessionGoalPayload } from '@/lib/sessionGoalMetadata';
+import { fetchGoalObjectiveContent } from '@/lib/sessionGoalActions';
 import { useUIStore } from '@/stores/useUIStore';
 
 export interface SessionGoalState {
@@ -19,3 +21,30 @@ export function useSessionGoal(sessionId: string, directory?: string): SessionGo
     enabled,
   };
 }
+
+// Effective objective text for display. Inline goals return the metadata
+// text directly; file-backed goals fetch the server-side file once per
+// goal edit (keyed by id + updatedAt). Display-only: a failed fetch yields
+// null and callers degrade gracefully (e.g. VS Code, where the OpenChamber
+// route is unavailable — the strip then shows only the audit note).
+export function useGoalObjectiveContent(sessionId: string, goal: SessionGoalPayload | null): string | null {
+  const [fetched, setFetched] = React.useState<string | null>(null);
+  const fetchKey = goal?.objectiveFile ? `${sessionId}:${goal.id}:${goal.updatedAt}` : '';
+
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    if (!fetchKey) {
+      setFetched(null);
+      return undefined;
+    }
+    let alive = true;
+    void fetchGoalObjectiveContent(sessionId).then((content) => {
+      if (alive) setFetched(content);
+    });
+    return () => {
+      alive = false;
+    };
+  }, [fetchKey, sessionId]);
+
+  if (!goal) return null;
+  return goal.objectiveFile ? fetched : goal.objective;
+}

packages/ui/src/lib/sessionGoalActions.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { abortCurrentOperation, patchSessionMetadata } from '@/sync/session-actions';
+import { runtimeFetch } from '@/lib/runtime-fetch';
 import {
   SESSION_GOAL_OBJECTIVE_CHAR_LIMIT,
   type SessionGoalPayload,
@@ -29,6 +30,41 @@ const writeGoal = (
     return { ...metadata, openchamber: nextNamespace };
   });
 
+// File-backed objectives: the text lives in a server-side file keyed by the
+// session id (one goal per session — a new goal overwrites the old file);
+// the metadata only carries an `objectiveFile: true` flag so it stays light
+// for session.updated fanout. If the file write fails (offline blip, VS
+// Code without the route), the objective falls back to inline metadata.
+const writeObjectiveFile = async (sessionId: string, content: string): Promise<boolean> => {
+  try {
+    const response = await runtimeFetch(`/api/goals/objective/${encodeURIComponent(sessionId)}`, {
+      method: 'PUT',
+      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+      body: JSON.stringify({ content }),
+    });
+    return response.ok;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+};
+
+const deleteObjectiveFile = (sessionId: string): void => {
+  void runtimeFetch(`/api/goals/objective/${encodeURIComponent(sessionId)}`, { method: 'DELETE' })
+    .catch(() => undefined);
+};
+
+/** Fetch the file-backed objective text for display; null when unavailable. */
+export async function fetchGoalObjectiveContent(sessionId: string): Promise<string | null> {
+  try {
+    const response = await runtimeFetch(`/api/goals/objective/${encodeURIComponent(sessionId)}`);
+    if (!response.ok) return null;
+    const parsed = await response.json().catch(() => null) as { content?: unknown } | null;
+    return typeof parsed?.content === 'string' ? parsed.content : null;
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
 export interface SetSessionGoalInput {
   objective: string;
   tokenBudget: number | null;
@@ -51,13 +87,15 @@ export async function setSessionGoal(
   const tokenBudget = typeof input.tokenBudget === 'number' && Number.isFinite(input.tokenBudget) && input.tokenBudget > 0
     ? Math.floor(input.tokenBudget)
     : null;
+  const objectiveFile = await writeObjectiveFile(sessionId, objective);
   const now = Date.now();
   await writeGoal(sessionId, directory, (currentGoal) => {
     if (existing && currentGoal && currentGoal.id === existing.id && existing.status !== 'complete') {
       // Edit in place: keep accounting, reactivate, clear stale audit state.
       return {
         ...currentGoal,
-        objective,
+        objective: objectiveFile ? '' : objective,
+        objectiveFile,
         tokenBudget,
         status: 'active',
         statusReason: 'resumed',
@@ -67,7 +105,8 @@ export async function setSessionGoal(
     }
     return {
       id: createGoalId(),
-      objective,
+      objective: objectiveFile ? '' : objective,
+      objectiveFile,
       status: 'active',
       tokenBudget,
       tokensUsed: 0,
@@ -116,6 +155,7 @@ export async function clearSessionGoal(sessionId: string, directory: string | un
     wasActive = currentGoal?.status === 'active';
     return null;
   });
+  deleteObjectiveFile(sessionId);
   // Removing a running goal is a "stop" too — abort the current turn like
   // pause does. A no-op when the session is idle.
   if (wasActive) {

packages/ui/src/lib/sessionGoalMetadata.ts

@@ -9,11 +9,13 @@ export type SessionGoalStatus = 'active' | 'paused' | 'blocked' | 'budgetLimited
 
 const SESSION_GOAL_STATUSES: SessionGoalStatus[] = ['active', 'paused', 'blocked', 'budgetLimited', 'complete'];
 
-export const SESSION_GOAL_OBJECTIVE_CHAR_LIMIT = 2000;
+export const SESSION_GOAL_OBJECTIVE_CHAR_LIMIT = 5000;
 
 export interface SessionGoalPayload {
   id: string;
   objective: string;
+  /** True when the objective text lives in a server-side file keyed by session id. */
+  objectiveFile: boolean;
   status: SessionGoalStatus;
   tokenBudget: number | null;
   tokensUsed: number;
@@ -42,7 +44,8 @@ export function getSessionGoal(session: Session | null | undefined): SessionGoal
 
   const id = typeof goal.id === 'string' ? goal.id : '';
   const objective = typeof goal.objective === 'string' ? goal.objective.trim() : '';
-  if (!id || !objective || !isGoalStatus(goal.status)) return null;
+  const objectiveFile = goal.objectiveFile === true;
+  if (!id || (!objective && !objectiveFile) || !isGoalStatus(goal.status)) return null;
 
   const tokenBudget = typeof goal.tokenBudget === 'number' && Number.isFinite(goal.tokenBudget) && goal.tokenBudget > 0
     ? Math.floor(goal.tokenBudget)
@@ -53,6 +56,7 @@ export function getSessionGoal(session: Session | null | undefined): SessionGoal
   return {
     id,
     objective: objective.slice(0, SESSION_GOAL_OBJECTIVE_CHAR_LIMIT),
+    objectiveFile,
     status: goal.status,
     tokenBudget,
     tokensUsed: asCount(goal.tokensUsed),