---
title: Prevent Psyche from replying to COMMUNEs
area: psyche
created: 2026-03-30T10:06:49.124Z
priority: medium
---

## Problem

Psyche keeps sending COMMUNE_ACK replies to Self after absorbing a COMMUNE. This is wrong — COMMUNEs are one-way informational updates. Psyche should absorb them silently and only send messages to Self during pulse evaluations (nudges/reminders).

The current behavior wastes tokens and creates unnecessary owl message traffic.

## Solution

Orchestrated effort across multiple touch points:
- **psyche.md prompt**: Strengthen instructions to never reply to COMMUNEs. Current wording may be ambiguous.
- **Wrapper loop**: Could filter outbound messages from Psyche that match COMMUNE_ACK pattern (defense in depth).
- **Testing**: Verify with a live session that communes produce no reply.

## Files

- `psyche.md` — Psyche agent prompt template
- `src/live/start.rs` — Wrapper loop (potential filter point)