fix(compression): /compress refusal no longer reports a successful rewrite

agent/context_compressor.py

@@ -1885,6 +1885,7 @@ class ContextCompressor(ContextEngine):
         self._cooldown_persist_failed = False
         self._last_summary_error = None
         self._last_compress_aborted = False
+        self._last_compress_refused_would_grow = False
         self.last_real_prompt_tokens = 0
         self.last_compression_rough_tokens = 0
         self.last_rough_tokens_when_real_prompt_fit = 0
@@ -2167,6 +2168,7 @@ class ContextCompressor(ContextEngine):
         self._summary_failure_cooldown_until = 0.0
         self._cooldown_persist_failed = False
         self._last_compress_aborted = False
+        self._last_compress_refused_would_grow = False
         self._context_probed = False
         self._context_probe_persistable = False
         self.last_real_prompt_tokens = 0
@@ -6927,6 +6929,7 @@ This compaction should PRIORITISE preserving all information related to the focu
         self._last_aux_model_failure_error = None
         self._last_aux_model_failure_model = None
         self._last_compress_aborted = False
+        self._last_compress_refused_would_grow = False
         self._last_compression_made_progress = False
         # NOTE: do NOT reset _last_summary_auth_failure or
         # _last_summary_network_failure here.  These flags are set by

agent/conversation_compression.py

@@ -3395,6 +3395,17 @@ def compress_context(
                         f"{_rough_in:,}",
                         f"{_rough_out:,}",
                     )
+                    # Flag the refusal on the compressor state so manual
+                    # /compress feedback can report it honestly. Without this,
+                    # the CLI compared the returned list against its pre-call
+                    # snapshot, saw a difference (durable-snapshot adoption can
+                    # legitimately change the count), and printed
+                    # "✅ Compressed: 8 → 14 messages" directly under the
+                    # refusal warning (Aug 2026 full-surface CLI QA sweep).
+                    try:
+                        agent.context_compressor._last_compress_refused_would_grow = True
+                    except Exception:
+                        pass
                     try:
                         agent._emit_warning(
                             "⚠️ Compression refused: the generated summary "

agent/manual_compression_feedback.py

@@ -53,6 +53,11 @@ def summarize_manual_compression(
         compression_state is not None
         and getattr(compression_state, "_last_compress_aborted", False) is True
     )
+    refused_would_grow = (
+        compression_state is not None
+        and getattr(compression_state, "_last_compress_refused_would_grow", False)
+        is True
+    )
     fallback_used = (
         compression_state is not None
         and getattr(compression_state, "_last_summary_fallback_used", False) is True
@@ -65,7 +70,12 @@ def summarize_manual_compression(
     if not isinstance(failure_reason, str) or not failure_reason.strip():
         failure_reason = None
 
-    if aborted:
+    if refused_would_grow:
+        headline = (
+            f"Compression refused (summary would grow the conversation): "
+            f"{before_count} messages preserved"
+        )
+    elif aborted:
         headline = f"Compression aborted: {before_count} messages preserved"
     elif fallback_used:
         headline = (
@@ -78,6 +88,8 @@ def summarize_manual_compression(
 
     if noop and after_tokens == before_tokens:
         token_line = f"Approx request size: ~{before_tokens:,} tokens (unchanged)"
+    elif refused_would_grow:
+        token_line = f"Approx request size: ~{before_tokens:,} tokens (unchanged)"
     else:
         token_line = (
             f"Approx request size: ~{before_tokens:,} → "
@@ -85,7 +97,12 @@ def summarize_manual_compression(
         )
 
     note = None
-    if aborted:
+    if refused_would_grow:
+        note = (
+            "The generated summary was larger than what it would replace; "
+            "no messages were removed."
+        )
+    elif aborted:
         note = "Summary generation failed; no messages were removed."
     elif fallback_used:
         dropped_count = getattr(
@@ -113,6 +130,7 @@ def summarize_manual_compression(
     return {
         "noop": noop,
         "aborted": aborted,
+        "refused_would_grow": refused_would_grow,
         "fallback_used": fallback_used,
         "headline": headline,
         "token_line": token_line,

cli.py

@@ -12970,7 +12970,11 @@ class HermesCLI(CLIAgentSetupMixin, CLICommandsMixin, CLIBillingMixin):
                         self.agent, "context_compressor", None
                     ),
                 )
-                if summary.get("aborted") or summary.get("fallback_used"):
+                if (
+                    summary.get("aborted")
+                    or summary.get("fallback_used")
+                    or summary.get("refused_would_grow")
+                ):
                     icon = "⚠️"
                 else:
                     icon = "🗜️" if summary["noop"] else "✅"

tests/agent/test_manual_compression_refusal_feedback.py

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+"""Regression tests: manual /compress feedback for a would-grow refusal.
+
+The anti-growth guard (#83339 / PR #86700) can refuse the commit AFTER the
+compressor produced a candidate. The CLI's feedback previously compared the
+returned list against its pre-call snapshot; durable-snapshot adoption can
+legitimately change that list, so a REFUSED compression printed
+"✅ Compressed: 8 → 14 messages" directly under the refusal warning
+(Aug 2026 full-surface CLI QA sweep). The refusal must surface as its own
+honest headline.
+"""
+
+from types import SimpleNamespace
+
+from agent.manual_compression_feedback import summarize_manual_compression
+
+
+def _msgs(n):
+    return [{"role": "user", "content": f"m{n_i}"} for n_i in range(n)]
+
+
+def _state(**flags):
+    base = {
+        "_last_compress_aborted": False,
+        "_last_compress_refused_would_grow": False,
+        "_last_summary_fallback_used": False,
+        "_last_summary_error": None,
+        "_last_summary_dropped_count": 0,
+    }
+    base.update(flags)
+    return SimpleNamespace(**base)
+
+
+class TestWouldGrowRefusalFeedback:
+    def test_refusal_reports_preserved_not_compressed(self):
+        summary = summarize_manual_compression(
+            _msgs(8), _msgs(14), 22025, 22453,
+            compression_state=_state(_last_compress_refused_would_grow=True),
+        )
+        assert summary["refused_would_grow"] is True
+        assert "refused" in summary["headline"].lower()
+        assert "→" not in summary["headline"]  # never claims a message rewrite
+        assert "unchanged" in summary["token_line"]
+        assert "no messages were removed" in summary["note"]
+
+    def test_normal_compression_unchanged(self):
+        summary = summarize_manual_compression(
+            _msgs(10), _msgs(4), 30000, 12000, compression_state=_state(),
+        )
+        assert summary["refused_would_grow"] is False
+        assert summary["headline"].startswith("Compressed: 10 → 4")
+
+    def test_abort_still_wins_its_own_headline(self):
+        summary = summarize_manual_compression(
+            _msgs(6), _msgs(6), 9000, 9000,
+            compression_state=_state(_last_compress_aborted=True),
+        )
+        assert summary["aborted"] is True
+        assert summary["headline"].startswith("Compression aborted")