d785af7f2f
Root cause: Kimi reads entire codebase before editing, consuming timeout. Fix: pre-extract context into prompt, or use Kimi for reasoning tasks only.
1.8 KiB
1.8 KiB
Delegation Cycle 2 — Retrospective
Date: 2026-03-15
Task: #148 split into chunks per Cycle 1 lessons
What Happened
Split #148 into 3 chunks (A: timmy/, B: dashboard/, C: infra+spark/). Dispatched Chunk C (4 files, smallest) to Kimi with 180s timeout.
Result: Kimi timed out again without making any changes.
Kimi's --print mode spends its time budget on:
- Reading all files in the working directory (codebase scanning)
- Planning the approach (chain of thought)
- Searching the web for best practices
- Actually making edits
For this codebase (~8800 SLOC), steps 1-3 consume most of the timeout.
Root Cause Analysis
Kimi is not timing out because the task is too big. It's timing out because it reads the entire codebase before starting work.
The 262K context is a trap — Kimi ingests everything it can find, and for a project with 200+ files, this planning phase alone can exceed 180s.
Proposed Fix for Cycle 3
- Pre-extract context. Instead of pointing Kimi at the full repo, give it ONLY the files it needs to edit, as inline code in the prompt.
- Use --add-dir sparingly. Don't let Kimi see the full src/ tree.
- Consider: do mechanical refactors myself. sqlite3 context manager conversion is a mechanical find-and-replace pattern. The value of Kimi is in tasks requiring reasoning, not search-and-replace.
Deliverables
- No new PRs this cycle
- Lesson: Kimi's planning overhead on large codebases is the real bottleneck
- #148 remains open — candidate for scripted refactoring or inline-context Kimi task
Cumulative Stats (Cycles 1+2)
| Metric | Cycle 1 | Cycle 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| PRs created | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kimi invocations | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Kimi timeouts | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Kimi successes | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Success rate | 25% | 0% | 20% |