fix(subagents): correct duration display showing 5-6x inflated runtime by samzong · Pull Request #57739 · openclaw/openclaw

samzong · 2026-03-30T14:19:32Z

Summary

Problem: Subagent interim status shows runtime inflated ~5-6x (e.g. 30s displayed as "1m")
Why it matters: Users cannot trust /subagents list runtime during active runs
What changed: Replaced buggy duplicate formatDurationCompact in src/shared/subagents-format.ts with a re-export of the canonical implementation from src/infra/format-time/format-duration.ts; added ?? "n/a" fallback at two call sites
What did NOT change (scope boundary): The canonical formatter, final completion stats, or any other display path

Change Type (select all)

Bug fix

Scope (select all touched areas)

UI / DX

Linked Issue/PR

Closes [Bug]: Subagent runtime display shows incorrect duration (5-6x actual time) #45009
Related fix(subagents): correct duration display showing 5-6x inflated runtime #45700 (prior PR by @jackjin1997 — same root cause analysis, closed by author to free PR queue)
This PR fixes a bug or regression

Root Cause / Regression History (if applicable)

Root cause: A duplicate formatDurationCompact in src/shared/subagents-format.ts divides ms by 60,000 (jumping to minutes) instead of 1,000 (seconds). Math.max(1, Math.round(ms / 60_000)) rounds anything under 60s up to "1m".
Missing detection / guardrail: The duplicate was never tested against short durations (<60s); existing test cases only covered minute+ ranges.
Prior context: The canonical implementation in src/infra/format-time/format-duration.ts already handles second-level granularity correctly with full test coverage.
Why this regressed now: The duplicate likely predates the canonical formatter; never caught because final completion stats use a different code path.

Regression Test Plan (if applicable)

Coverage level that should have caught this:
- Unit test
Target test or file: src/shared/subagents-format.test.ts
Scenario the test should lock in: formatDurationCompact(30_000) returns "30s" (not "1m"), and formatDurationCompact(90_000) returns "1m30s"
Why this is the smallest reliable guardrail: Directly tests the re-exported formatter at the module boundary where callers import it
Existing test that already covers this (if any): src/infra/format-time/format-time.test.ts covers the canonical implementation

User-visible / Behavior Changes

/subagents list and /subagents info now show seconds-level granularity (e.g. 45s instead of 1m)
Short-running subagents no longer show inflated runtimes

Diagram (if applicable)

N/A

Security Impact (required)

New permissions/capabilities? No
Secrets/tokens handling changed? No
New/changed network calls? No
Command/tool execution surface changed? No
Data access scope changed? No

Repro + Verification

Environment

OS: macOS
Runtime/container: Node 24 / Bun

Steps

Spawn a subagent with a short task (~30s)
Run /subagents list during execution
Observe runtime display

Expected

Runtime shows 30s

Actual

Runtime shows 1m (before fix)

Evidence

Failing test/log before + passing after
- Before: formatDurationCompact(30_000) → "1m"
- After: formatDurationCompact(30_000) → "30s"

Human Verification (required)

Verified scenarios: subagents-format.test.ts (5/5), subagent-control.test.ts + reply-plumbing.test.ts + format-time.test.ts (104/104 all passed)
Edge cases checked: undefined input, sub-second input, boundary values (59s, 60s, 3599s, 3600s)
What you did not verify: Live subagent run with real model (test-only verification)

Review Conversations

I replied to or resolved every bot review conversation I addressed in this PR.
I left unresolved only the conversations that still need reviewer or maintainer judgment.

Compatibility / Migration

Backward compatible? Yes
Config/env changes? No
Migration needed? No

Risks and Mitigations

None. The canonical formatter is already used by other callers (bash-tools.process.ts, sandbox-display.ts, usage-render-*.ts); this change aligns the remaining three callers to the same implementation.

Credit: Root cause originally identified by @jackjin1997 in #45009 comments and #45700. This PR corrects the test expectations that were missed in the prior attempt.

greptile-apps · 2026-03-30T14:22:09Z

Greptile Summary

This PR fixes a longstanding display bug where the formatDurationCompact in src/shared/subagents-format.ts was a duplicate that incorrectly divided milliseconds by 60,000 instead of 1,000, causing short runtimes (e.g. 30 s) to be shown as "1m" in /subagents list and /subagents info. The fix replaces the duplicate with a re-export of the canonical implementation in src/infra/format-time/format-duration.ts, adds ?? "n/a" fallbacks at the two affected call sites to handle the changed return type (string | undefined vs. the old string), and updates the test to verify second-level granularity.

All three callers that import from subagents-format.js (subagent-control.ts, commands-subagents/shared.ts, commands-subagents/action-info.ts) correctly handle the undefined return with ?? "n/a"
The canonical formatter already had full test coverage and is used by other display paths (bash-tools.process.ts, sandbox-display.ts, usage-render-*.ts)
Test expectations correctly updated: formatDurationCompact() now toBeUndefined() (consistent with the canonical API), and the key regression case formatDurationCompact(30_000) === "30s" is now locked in

Confidence Score: 5/5

Safe to merge — the fix is minimal, correct, and all affected call sites are properly updated.

No P0 or P1 issues found. The change replaces a clearly broken duplicate function with a re-export of the well-tested canonical implementation, adds ?? "n/a" at every affected call site, and updates the test expectations to match. The canonical formatter has existing test coverage and is already used by other display paths in the codebase.

No files require special attention.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
src/shared/subagents-format.ts	Buggy duplicate removed; replaced with a one-line re-export of the canonical `formatDurationCompact` from `src/infra/format-time/format-duration.ts`.
src/agents/subagent-control.ts	Added `?? "n/a"` fallback to handle the canonical function's `undefined` return for invalid/missing runtime values.
src/auto-reply/reply/commands-subagents/shared.ts	Added `?? "n/a"` fallback at the `formatDurationCompact` call site, mirroring the change in `subagent-control.ts`.
src/shared/subagents-format.test.ts	Test updated to assert `toBeUndefined()` for no-arg call, and to lock in `30s` / `1m30s` regression cases that the old duplicate would have failed.

_{Reviews (1): Last reviewed commit: "fix(subagents): correct duration display..." | Re-trigger Greptile}

Replace buggy duplicate formatDurationCompact (ms/60000, minutes-only) with re-export of canonical implementation (ms/1000, second-level). Add ?? "n/a" fallback at two call sites for undefined return. Closes openclaw#45009 Signed-off-by: samzong <[email protected]>

frankekn · 2026-03-30T15:46:18Z

Merged via squash.

Prepared head SHA: 018bbbca4d5a63e60d8ab91f17e95873a1fecdf3
Merge commit: 09bb93c6e046ecc2c588c56f513ff4a33351d302

Thanks @samzong!

@frankekn

openclaw#57739) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 018bbbc Co-authored-by: samzong <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: frankekn <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @frankekn

@frankekn

openclaw#57739) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 018bbbc Co-authored-by: samzong <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: frankekn <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @frankekn

@frankekn

openclaw#57739) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 018bbbc Co-authored-by: samzong <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: frankekn <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @frankekn

@frankekn

openclaw#57739) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 018bbbc Co-authored-by: samzong <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: frankekn <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @frankekn

@frankekn

openclaw#57739) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 018bbbc Co-authored-by: samzong <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: frankekn <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @frankekn

@frankekn

openclaw#57739) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 018bbbc Co-authored-by: samzong <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: frankekn <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @frankekn

@frankekn

openclaw#57739) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 018bbbc Co-authored-by: samzong <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: frankekn <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @frankekn

@frankekn

openclaw#57739) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 018bbbc Co-authored-by: samzong <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: frankekn <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @frankekn

openclaw-barnacle Bot added agents Agent runtime and tooling size: XS labels Mar 30, 2026

frankekn self-assigned this Mar 30, 2026

samzong and others added 3 commits March 30, 2026 23:32

fix: document subagent runtime display correction

cadee06

fix: correct subagent runtime display openclaw#57739 thanks @samzong

018bbbc

frankekn force-pushed the fix/subagent-duration-display branch from 9a77c51 to 018bbbc Compare March 30, 2026 15:44

frankekn merged commit 09bb93c into openclaw:main Mar 30, 2026
9 checks passed

github-actions Bot mentioned this pull request Mar 30, 2026

📡 Upstream Digest — 2026-03-30 16:49 UTC curtismercier/openclaw-mods#413

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clawsweeper Bot mentioned this pull request Jul 4, 2026

fix: keep subagent truncation within max length #100013

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fix(subagents): correct duration display showing 5-6x inflated runtime#57739

fix(subagents): correct duration display showing 5-6x inflated runtime#57739
frankekn merged 3 commits into
openclaw:mainfrom
samzong:fix/subagent-duration-display

samzong commented Mar 30, 2026

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greptile-apps Bot commented Mar 30, 2026

Important Files Changed

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frankekn commented Mar 30, 2026

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